


A Detached Resistance

by SilverStudios5140



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anime, Criminal Profiling, Death Note - Freeform, Detectives, F/M, Female Reader, How do I tag?, L is emotionally constipated, Light looks constipated a lot, Lxreader, Misa deserves better, Misa ships L and Reader, Near makes a cameo, Not Betaed, Older Sister Reader, Reader Insert, Reader relates to Ryuk, Romance, Slow Burn, Smart!Reader, criminal minds - Freeform, healthy female friendship, like extremely slow burn, neutral!reader, passive!reader, profiler!reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 22:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStudios5140/pseuds/SilverStudios5140
Summary: To L, she was an unknown piece in the giant game of chess he was playing with Kira. Or rather, she was the wildcard third person that had enough influence to disrupt his carefully laid out plays, and that demanded that he solve the enigma known as (Y/n) Yagami. She was dangerous, and knowing this, she wasn't above using her influence which made her a worrying variable.





	1. Prologue

"Nee-san," the six-year-old began, tilting his head slightly as he watched his older sister flip through the pages of a thick textbook that he knew wasn't really a part of her coursework, "What are you doing?" 

The girl in question glanced at the brown-haired boy standing in her doorway inquisitively, beckoning him over with small smile. "I'm just doing a little extra research," the twelve-year-old answered, pushing her chair away from the desk so she could face her younger brother. 

Peering at the cover of the book, Light frowned. "You don't have to know all that for middle school," he stated, looking at her almost accusingly, but she only nodded, not denying it. 

"You're right," she agreed. "I don't have to know all that for the sixth grade, but I find it interesting, so I figured I'd do a little extra reading." 

(Y/N) Yagami was an impeccably good daughter. Her grades were always at their steady level of near perfection, she was respectful and intelligent, and she had an irreplaceable bond with both her siblings- her younger brother and their newborn baby sister. She was quiet and never caused her parents much trouble, but what concerned Soichiro and Sachiko Yagami was her passive nature. 

The preteen seemed to do her best to hang in the balance of always being in the middle. Her observational skills and intelligence were remarkable, but she never showed off her knowledge and almost never spoke of what she noticed or her opinions on matters unless asked. Nor did she seem to hold any sort of motivation or goal of what to do with her high intellect, and her adoptive parents seemed concerned of what their brilliant, but impossibly passive daughter would end up doing. 

It could almost be considered surprising how even with Light's open display of intelligence and having an affinity for the spotlight being in stark contrast to (Y/N)'s more laid-back and unbothered persona the two siblings still got along very well. They almost never argued and despite the different age groups, were always happy to spend time together. 

To Light, his older sister was someone he looked up to very much. She never treated him like a child despite him being a good six years younger than her; always speaking to him as an equal and willingly listening to what he had to say. (Y/N), in turn, was always blunt about her thoughts around her brother. She didn't mind revealing her opinions to him because Light was at a stage where he was more open to differences in beliefs than adults, which was why she preferred to pass off as unassuming around those older than her. 

Presently, as the first grader read through the lines that had held his sister's attention for the past hour or so, his eyebrows shot up in surprise before he frowned. "I thought you didn't care about catching criminals like Oto-san," he voiced, and in response she shrugged, getting up to sit on her bed instead where she was soon joined by Light. 

"I couldn't care less about all the 'bad' people in the world, Light," she said, using finger quotes for when she said 'bad'. "As long as our family isn't directly targeted, I don't care about what they do because it's not like I can get them to stop, and I don't really want to put in that much effort for a fruitless result. When one criminal is caught, two more pop up elsewhere in the world. It's almost like the balance of nature." 

Although he disagreed with this mentality, Light accepted that it was his sister's way of viewing the world, and since she never tried to change his way of seeing good and bad, he wouldn't try to change her way of only seeing various shades of gray instead of the black and white either. "But you're reading about catching criminals," he pointed out instead. "That's what criminology is, right? I heard Oto-san say it once." 

Throwing a glance over her shoulder at where the book was sat on her desk, her lips tilted upwards in a small smile. "No," she corrected, "I'm reading about criminal profiling." 

"What's that?" Light wrinkled his nose at the term. For a first grader, his vocabulary was already quite advanced, and it created a sort of disdain in him for having to ask what he didn't know, but his sister never treated him like a dumb kid for it, so he was more open to asking her. 

"Well, it's basically trying to understand how the criminal thinks to understand their motive and narrow down the suspects until you catch the one you're looking for. It has its downsides with not always being accurate, but it sounds awfully interesting," she explained, biting her lip. 

The small boy studied her thoughtfully before drawing up his conclusion. "Is that what you want to be when you grow up, Nee-san?" he asked, genuinely curious since his sister had been notoriously indecisive about what she wanted to commit to doing for the rest of her life. 

"Maybe," she admitted, smiling secretively. "What about you, Light? Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?" 

He didn't even have to think about his answer. Light had known ever since he had asked his father to explain what exactly he did for a living, and his already strong sense of justice drove him to wanting to do the same thing and put all the bad guys in jail. "I want to be a detective in the police," he revealed, proudly puffing out his chest.

Humming, she nodded. "I expected that," (Y/N) said easily, but Light frowned at the thought of seeming predictable and boring to the sister he admired very much. 

"How?" he demanded childishly, pouting without meaning to and thus resulting in (Y/N)'s amusement. 

"Well, you're insanely clever," she began, "and your moral compass is too strong for your own good, so you'd either be a policeman or a serial killer." 

The initial pleasure at being called clever evaporated as soon as his sister finished her sentence, and Light gasped indignantly. "That's not something you can just say, Nee-san!" he protested while (Y/N) laughed at his flustered reaction. 

"I was only joking, dear Otouto," she assured amidst her laughter. "You can relax." 

Albeit with a put out huff, Light settled down, crossing his arms. Smiling bemusedly, the older girl ruffled his hair affectionately before suggesting they go to the local library together, effectively improving the younger's mood as he voiced his agreement. 

Outside the preteen's doorway, Sachiko Yagami smiled to herself as she listened to her children's interaction. Both, her and Soichiro had been skeptical about how their adopted daughter would react to having a little brother, but the girl had wholeheartedly accepted her new role as an older sister, and it didn't strain their relationship at all when Light began showing signs of being a prodigy, too. It brought the Yagami matriarch some comfort to know that both her eldest children always looked out for each other, and she only hoped that wouldn't change once they'd grown up.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Y/N) nodded- not in agreement, but acceptance. "Alright," she considered, pushing the door open to one of the cafes that the two of them tended to frequent whenever (Y/N) was in town. "In all honesty, Light, I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be the Unsub." 

Keys quietly turned in the lock of the familiar house, barely making any noise as the door was softly swung open to reveal the (h/c)-haired woman looking in tentatively with a small, playful smile playing on her lips. 

Almost silently stepping in, bringing her suitcase beside her, she quietly shut the door behind her, cringing at the slight sound in the otherwise silent house. 

It was the lack of noise that finally brought her to attention, causing her to knit her eyebrows together, furrowing them. Slipping off her shoes, she peered deeper into the house with a frown. 

"Mom?" the woman called out. "Sayu? Light? Anyone home, or did my surprise just go to waste?" 

When nobody answered her calls, she placed her hands on her hips, blowing a bit of hair away from her eyes. "Alright, so my surprise is not going as planned," she muttered to herself, turning to grab her suitcase once more, preparing to haul it up the stairs. 

Unbeknownst to her, elsewhere in the city, two men were watching her through the secretly installed surveillance cameras in the Yagami household, and their reactions differed understandably. 

Soichiro couldn't contain the surprise that came with seeing his oldest child drop in for an unannounced visit all the way from the other side of the planet. He smiled reflexively at the sight of her, fondness rushing through him as he watched her plans to surprise the family go to waste, glad that not everyone had drifted away from the familial roots even though (Y/N) was the one who had been living on another continent for the last six years. 

"That is your eldest daughter, correct?" the man crouched in his unusual sitting position in the chair beside him asked, and Soichiro nodded in confirmation. 

"(Y/N) lives in America," the older man added. "I didn't know she would visit." 

Humming in acknowledgment, L didn't remove his gaze from the screen showing the woman enter her old room, smiling fondly at the familiar walls. "That much was evident. What does she do?" 

The Chief glanced sideways at the man beside him, swallowing the discomfort that came with him watching his daughter, feeling particularly disconcerted since he guessed they were quite close in age. "She's a criminal profiler," he answered at last, and although he didn't show it outwardly, L's interest was spiked regarding the unassuming woman on screen. 

"The FBI?" the genius questioned, and Soichiro nodded proudly, straightening unknowingly. "I doubt she's been working for long," L commented, skeptical despite his monotone. 

"She graduated early with her Masters degree, so she's been working with the Behavioral Analysis Unit for over a year now. Her IQ had her immediately noticed, so once the basic training was done at Quantico, they had her working under a mentor and she's been with the same team since then," the woman in question's father explained, and L raised an eyebrow slightly. 

He hadn't looked too much into the eldest Yagami child since she hadn't been in Japan for over six months, but it seemed he would have to get a background check done on her as well. "It seems as though you have two genius children, Mr. Yagami. You must consider yourself lucky," he remarked, bringing his thumb to his lip in thought. 

Soichiro remained silent, unsure on what could be said to that and not really wanting to continue the conversation in case L decided to make it weird. He didn't like having his family under surveillance, and it had him secretly wishing that his oldest daughter had stayed in the USA, if only to have at least one member of his family away from the mess created by Kira. 

Meanwhile, (Y/N)'s shoulders stiffened due to the strange tingling at the back of her neck that made her feel like she was being watched. Pretending to be busy with unpacking, the young woman examined the room, eyes narrowing by the barest fraction at the strange metallic glint she caught inside the vents of the air conditioner in her room. 

She knew of the twelve FBI agents that had been dispatched as per the mysterious L's orders to investigate the families of certain Japanese police officers and of how they'd been killed by 'Kira', as the public was referring to the unknown subject. Her guess was that they had reason to further the surveillance to within the houses and that she was being watched through the lenses that very second. 

A quiet sigh of mild annoyance escaped her as she deposited the folded clothes into her wardrobe, shutting the door just in time to catch the faint sound of the front door opening and closing. 

Momentarily ignoring her disdain at the idea of being watched 24/7, she crept down the stairs to find her younger brother slipping of his own shoes in silence. 

"Hey, Light," she called out, smiling at the obvious shock on the male's handsome features as he stared for a disbelieving second at the sister that climbed down the rest of the stairs to come to a stop in front of him. 

A genuine smile broke onto his face when it finally registered, and he ignored the presence of the intrigued Shinigami in the room in favor of embracing his older sister. "I didn't know you'd be here," he spoke, his voice slightly muffled by her shoulder as she patted his head with a chuckle. 

Light was always sincerely happy whenever he saw his older sister. She was more than smart enough to keep up with him, and he respected whatever she had to say because it was always well thought out and meaningful, unlike the kind of harebrained chatter he had to listen to when he hung out with people his age. 

Besides, (Y/N) was never fazed by his cynicism, and Light enjoyed being able to drop the facade of perfection that had been ingrained in him around her, even if it was only momentarily. He was interested to know what she thought of Kira, but he supposed it would be the same as her stance on the criminals of the world- she wouldn't care unless personally affected. 

Still, he worried about what she might do if, or when, she figured out that he was Kira- would she sell him out, or would she support him? 

"You look older," she noted when they separated. 

Stepping around her to get to the stairs, he shrugged. "That's expected," Light stated. "I've gotten taller since you were last year." 

He was sure that his sister rolled her eyes behind him as she followed him up the stairs, and her tone of voice only confirmed it. 

"No kidding, beanstalk, but I meant as a whole. Is it stress because of your entrance exams?" 

He came to a stop in front of his door, pursing his lips at the door handle that was at a right angle when Light always made it a point to leave it a little below. Someone had been in his room. 

"Of course, I'm nervous about how I'll do, but I didn't think I was stressed enough for it to show," he answered his sister, partially honest with his answer. Half-truths were a personal specialty. 

Opening the door, he noted that the slip of paper was in place, but the mechanical pencil lead in the hinges of the door lay in unnoticeable pieces on the floor. (Y/N) followed him in, and he saw her gaze briefly glance at the pencil lead, but she didn't bring it up and he was grateful once more for her passiveness. 

His sister caught his eye meaningfully, glancing at the air conditioner in his room nonchalantly, hinting at what he had already guessed. The house was under surveillance. 

"Well," (Y/N) carried on conversationally, "don't work yourself too much, or soon enough, you'll be looking like my uncle rather than my younger brother." 

In response to her statement, he rolled his eyes, simultaneously dropping his bag by the foot of his desk. "That's just exaggerating it," he pointed out, and she shrugged unashamedly. 

Slipping her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she examined his room absentmindedly. "I'll tell you what isn't exaggerating," she looked at him sideways. "I'm so hungry, my stomach lining is going to dissolve if I don't eat soon. Would you like to join me?" 

"Aren't you tired after your flight?" But even as he asked this, he was following her down the stairs to slip his shoes back on. He knew his sister well enough to guess she wanted to talk about the surveillance installed in their home, and in all honesty, Light wanted to get her opinion on Kira to grasp whether or not he could trust her. If anyone was capable of helping him realize his ambition of creating a new world and making sure he stayed on the throne without wanting it for themselves, it was (Y/N). With her help, he was sure he'd be nearly impossible to defeat, but first, he had to figure out her stance on what Kira was trying to do. 

They stepped out of the house, back into the chilly air of the dying winter. Rather than paying attention to Ryuk's incessant whining, Light chose to concentrate on the shifts in dynamic between (Y/N) and himself. She stood a respectable distance away from him- courtesy of the manners that had been grilled into them since they were kids- but there was a sort of tension in her muscles, like she was waiting to dive right into action if needed. 

Was it because of her job? He knew she worked in the BAU, but he doubted that required all that much physical prowess. Something must have happened then, and judging by the bags under her eyes, Light would guess it was enough to keep his reputedly unshakable sister up at night. 

"So, what's with the sudden visit?" he asked, carefully watching her reaction in his peripheral vision. 

But (Y/N) didn't do anything drastic aside from shrugging. "My mentor insisted on my taking a break," she spoke, burrowing her chin into the collar of her buttoned up coat. 

The information, however, had Light furrowing his eyebrows in concern. "Did something happen, (Y/N)?" he questioned slowly, worried that she might get irritated by his prying. 

"Cases go wrong all the time, Light," the woman sighed. "We aren't always able to catch the criminals, or save everyone, even if we wish we could. I guess, it just...it takes a toll on you." 

With an understanding smile, Light wrapped an arm around his older sister, mentally resolving to asking her at a later date exactly which criminals she was referring to so he could bring them to justice. He'd make sure they would pay for their crimes, and for possibly causing some form of PTSD- because he may not be a professional psychologist, but if he had to take a guess, it would be that. 

Shooting him a small smile of gratitude, the older of the two returned her gaze to in front of her, (e/c) irises looking almost bored even as they missed barely any detail in what they were seeing. When he was younger, Light had always been secretly amazed by how much (Y/N)'s natural disinterest let her get away with her remarkable intelligence. She noticed everything, but you would think she'd rather be asleep at the very moment. 

"Enough about me," she shrugged his arm off easily. "Let's talk about why the hell there are cameras all over our house." 

At the question, he could only sigh. "You know about the twelve FBI agents who had been sent here for the Kira case's investigation?" Light began, ignoring the deadpan she shot him because of course she knew. "Our family was among the one's being investigated for ties with Kira, and I think that after the agents' deaths, they got even more suspicious." 

(Y/N) snorted derisively at his explanation, shaking her head. "I know this isn't the FBI's doing, so who is it really?" she mused thoughtfully. 

There was a short silence, and Light could practically see the gears turning in her brain, making him nervous for some reason. If she figured it out, would (Y/N) expose him? 

Then he almost laughed at himself. His sister wouldn't do that even if she wasn't particularly approving of his actions. Their family was above everything else to her, and she would be the last person to tear it apart like telling on him would do. 

"L?" she wondered out loud. "I must admit, I didn't think they would go this far, but I suppose as the best detective of our generation, he does have enough weight to throw around and be able to pull this off. Then, they must be really suspicious of our family, huh?" 

He didn't respond, pressing his lips together into a thin line, thinking on just how he wanted to direct the conversation. 

"(Y/N)," he began, deciding to just go for it, "what do you think of Kira?" 

Glancing at him quickly, he caught the slight frown marring her face before she turned back, using the time in which they crossed the street to think of her answer. "Why the sudden question?" she inquired instead, and he swallowed the frustration at her careful evasion. 

"I don't know," he lied, shrugging to illustrate. "I guess, I just like knowing your opinion since I value it, and I enjoy hearing all the interesting thoughts that people have on the biggest case right now." 

She shot him a dubious look, looking unconvinced and not bothering to hide it- something that he could never bring himself to do when he knew that it would probably displease his companion. "You know what, Light? I'm interested in hearing your opinion on the Unsub." 

Although being referred to so carelessly as the Unknown Subject irked him, he pushed past the unintentional dig to think very carefully of his next move, knowing it could very well give him away. "Well, Kira is a murderer," he recited, trying not to sound mechanical as he did. "What he's doing is inhumane and he needs to be stopped." 

"Sure," she snorted quietly, smiling in amusement, "that's the conventionally correct answer, given that you are the son of the man heading the investigation against the Unsub, but I want to hear what you really think, dear Otouto." 

Her skepticism with his answer actually pleased him since it showed that his sister still knew him very well, but in the small probability that she didn't support him, it could also prove incriminating for Light. "I know that I should hate him, and it should be as simple as that, but I can't help but agree with some of what he's doing," he admitted, playing the part she expected of him. "The world really could use some cleansing, and since it's only criminals, he isn't really doing that bad of a deed, right?" 

(Y/N) nodded- not in agreement, but acceptance. "Alright," she considered, pushing the door open to one of the cafes that the two of them tended to frequent whenever (Y/N) was in town. "In all honesty, Light, I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be the Unsub." 

The ease with which she said it had him freezing in his tracks behind her. (Y/N) shot him a look over her shoulder, impatiently gesturing for him to follow her to an empty booth on the side. 

Was he really that obvious? 

"Why would you say that?" he asked, sliding in opposite her, forcing himself to stay calm while Ryuk laughed hysterically in the background, momentarily forgetting his apple withdrawal symptoms. 

Glancing at him in something akin to amusement, (Y/N) browsed through the menu unbothered; like she hadn't just accused her little brother of potentially being one of the most wanted people on the planet. 

"I've known you since your birth, Light," she stated. "I've seen you grow and I've seen the very formation of your honest opinions, so I know what you really think of things rather than just buying the garbage you try to feed people via that exhausting facade of yours. Your way of thinking is alarmingly close to this Unsub and the kind of intelligence needed to evade the police- and even L- is something you naturally possess." 

When he didn't respond, she looked up completely, calmly placing down the menu and folding her hands on the table top. "You know, I've been keeping tabs on the case, and the FBI does get all the intel relating to itself," she dropped her voice conspiratorially. "Naturally, I knew of each update as it came, and I also watched footage of Agent Penber's death, knowing he was the first to die out of the twelve federal agents. With barely any digging, I uncovered the families that he was tracking, and since I know you better than anyone else, clever Otouto, I couldn't think of a better candidate for the world's most undesirable than you." 

There was a deafening silence in which (Y/N) leaned back, looking quite pleased with herself even as a waitress came for their orders. To Light, the world felt muted somehow. 

He was vaguely aware of Ryuk's annoying cackling, and his sister ordering both of their usual orders, but he could only really focus on how easily she had circled him out. He couldn't believe that he was this sloppy. L would catch up to him in no time at this rate. 

"You're panicking," (Y/N) observed dully. "Well, at least it proves I'm right, but you don't have to be worrying about anything for the moment, Light. You have too much a perfect porcelain image for anyone else to figure it out. Like I said: I know you better than even our parents, so it wasn't that hard for me to guess, and even then, it was all mere speculation." 

"You don't think what I'm doing is wrong?" he blurted out, reverting to his original question. There wasn't anything he could do other than convince himself that she wouldn't sell him out or use this against him, and he still wanted his older sister's approval. 

It wasn't a sister complex (regardless of what the damn Shinigami was singing in the background). Light had grown up knowing he was more intelligent than anyone he knew in his age group. His parents were always suffocating about it, and at the young age of three, he found solace in the company of his quiet and equally brilliant elder sister. She was more perceptive than he could ever hope to be, and he was more creative in how he used his intelligence to get the upper hand than (Y/N) could ever be. 

They were gifted in the same way, but were still different enough for him to be in awe with her massive view of the world as a child. It had followed through even when they both grew up because (Y/N) never sought need to constantly remind him of his remarkable brain like the rest of their family, but still respected his intelligence, and in turn, Light respected hers. 

She was an unsuspecting genius with a gift for observation, and consequently, predicting usually accurate outcomes. Light could recognize that with her skill of sense on his side, he would stand even better chances than he did now, and one could never do too well. 

"Honestly, Light, my opinion will do nothing to put a wedge in the chain of events you've already set off. You know that I've never particularly cared for criminals as long as I'm not personally affected by them, so I don't have much of an opinion on what you're doing anyways, but I will tell you that this is one incredibly dangerous game you're playing," she spoke thoughtfully, obviously weighing her words as they left her mouth. 

He had already expected as much, and the younger Yagami could only sigh. 

Examining the unremarkable eatery they were seated in, (Y/N) decidedly ignored the growing tension between her and her brother. "What are you hoping to achieve from this, Otouto?" she murmured, returning her gaze to Light. 

His eyes seemed to light up with a reignited flame, and the woman decided to keep to herself the opinion that this would only result in the downfall of the clever young man sitting opposite her if he kept at it. L was undeniably one of the most intellectual people on the planet, and even she had some respect for the person as a detective. (Y/N) wanted to have faith that her brother would be safe from the detective's clutches, but she had her doubts; especially since it seemed that L was suspicious enough to install freaking surveillance in their home. 

"Don't you think that our world is much too polluted? There is so much scum and the only way to cleanse it is to get rid of all the monsters tainting our evolution into a world of a new and better order," Light explained passionately, oblivious to his sister's quiet sigh of resignation. 

It's official, (Y/N) thought to herself. He has a God complex. 

Following the pause in conversation as the waitress delivered their meals, the female chewed on her lip absentmindedly. "Wouldn't that make you the only monster left when it's all over?" she deadpanned, adding the sugar to her coffee thoughtfully as unbeknownst to her, a God of Death exclaimed over how she had just repeated what he had first said to Light. 

"Are you calling me a monster, Nee-chan?" Light frowned, childishly using the honorific that he had stopped using upon (Y/N)'s request when she visited for the first time after she moved to America. It sprang up occasionally when he wasn't paying attention, but now when it was paired with his current tone of voice, it had (Y/N)'s gaze snapping to him from her warm beverage. 

The question left a strange heaviness in her chest, her immediate instinct being to assure him of otherwise, but (Y/N) knew that her brother needed an honest reality check before any form of comfort. "I'm not going to sugarcoat the fact that at its core, what you're doing is essentially murder," she stated matter-of-factly. "Conventionally, I'd be inclined to advise you drop this extracurricular activity of yours, or even turn you in, but we both know I don't care for that." 

Light didn't say anything, and she looked him pointedly in the eye with what she said next. "Personally, I don't think that what you're trying to achieve is realistically feasible, but what matters to me isn't your alter ego, but rather you as my brother. Above anything else, I don't want this to end in your imprisonment or death, and if you get caught, that's all you're getting," (Y/N) informed. 

This much he already knew, but it was still immensely relieving to have it confirmed that the one person who knew of his deadliest secret wouldn't use it against him. 

"Will you help me, then?" he asked tentatively, stirring his own coffee. 

(Y/N) nearly choked on her coffee, physically refraining from spitting it out and dissolving into a coughing fit as a result. "No," she replied as soon as she'd made sure her lungs weren't constricting irregularly. "I am an FBI agent in case you've forgotten. Besides, no offense to your personal interests, Light, but this whole wiping out criminals thing isn't for me. What I will be doing is trying my damn hardest to make sure you aren't caught. Let's not ignore the fact that you've succeeded in making the world's best detective your mortal enemy." 

"I can beat him," Light brushed off arrogantly causing her eyebrows to rise incredulously. 

"Maybe," (Y/N) shrugged, "but I'm not taking that chance." 

Sure, he was a little put out by the fact that his sister didn't even seem to take his ambition as seriously as he would have liked, but knowing that she was out to protect him to the best of her abilities was enough to satisfy him for now. He knew better than almost anyone else that (Y/N) could achieve just about anything if she put her mind to it.

A thoughtful frown came over the young woman's expression as she lowered her fork, looking back up at him. "How do you manage to do it, though?" she asked curiously. 

Light grinned, taking a sip of his coffee as Ryuk loudly demanded if he was going to answer that. This was sure to be an interesting conversation for his stubbornly logical sister.


	3. Chapter 2

(Y/N) almost wished she hadn't asked Light just how he did his dirty work because it seemed that the Shinigami had taken a shine to her, and was now floating around in her room while she tried to get some work done. 

Her brother had waited till they had left the cafe and were in a more secluded setting before pulling out the hidden compartment in his watch (that she doubted their father even knew about), and having her touch the bit of paper that was inside it. She had done so with an understandable amount of silent questioning for his teetering sanity, but all thoughts had withered away when her eyes landed on the figure floating bare inches away from her face. 

Struggling to hold back a scream, she stuttered out an introduction for herself (not one of her best moments), and the Shinigami did the same- saying his name was Ryuk and that he was Light's temporary roommate. 

She had found the whole 'Death Note' fiasco difficult to wrap her head around, even after she had seen it in action. It had taken a while for it to register to her that the same little brother who stayed in the room next to her's now had the power to kill her, and all he would have to do was wait forty seconds for her heart to give out. 

It was a frightening concept, but Light had assured her that he wouldn't resort to using the Note against her as long as she didn't betray him. This in itself set off the alarms that this young man who shared the same face as Light was only masquerading as her younger brother. Sure, maybe deep down somewhere he was still Light in his ideals, but the guy who had threatened to kill her so easily was Kira. 

Nevertheless, she was safe in the knowledge that since there was no way she was selling out her brother, she could live her life peacefully with no supernatural notebook interventions. 

Maybe not peacefully, she thought, casting a fleeting look of annoyance at Ryuk, who was trying to bargain for some apples. 

It had been worse when she couldn't respond due to the 64 cameras installed in her room, but even now as she tried concentrating on her assignment, Ryuk took it upon himself to give her hell for it.

Hoping that her irritation wouldn't result in her smashing her foot through the laptop screen, she narrowed her eyes at the report she had to type up. Solving cases was fun- the paperwork that came as aftermath was not.

Finally, giving into her procrastinating tendencies, she pushed down the laptop screen, scooting off her bed to stretch and relieve her muscles. A glance at the clock told her that Light would be done with his freshmen orientation-thing soon, so she figured she may as well go see her brother while she had nothing to do. 

Carelessly brushing her hair and pulling a thin, cream colored sweater over her head, she grabbed her wallet and phone, and slipped on her Oxfords before heading out the door, shouting a brief goodbye to her mom. The winter had receded visibly, leaving only the chilly winds behind as the signs of spring returned full force, and (Y/N) sighed at the warmth of the sun falling upon her skin. 

Her mentor- Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner, had sent her home to 'heal' after a particularly nasty hostage situation that she had managed to get tangled in. He hadn't really mentioned therapy, but she knew he wanted her to go see a shrink and so, a week after her arrival, she did. 

As expected, she had been diagnosed with the beginnings of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hotch didn't want her returning to work until she was completely sure she was past her experience, but it had already been three months, and (Y/N) worried her job may be at stake despite the man's reassurances. 

Still, she couldn't argue with him when he was so insistent, so she figured she'd be staying for longer than she had anticipated while Hotch took care to keep her updated on their latest cases so she could still give her input and produce new leads while she was physically absent. It was a system, she supposed. He'd keep her updated and technically, this passed her off as working, and she wouldn't absolutely die of boredom. They were having it written off as consultation and technical aid.

Not that being followed around by a Shinigami wasn't interesting in its own right. 

Light had commented over how despite being the one who was possessed by Ryuk, it seemed the latter preferred hanging around her while he could. When she had asked him why, Ryuk had only chuckled to himself and stared at the empty space above her head oddly. 

Later, she had been informed about the Shinigami eyes, and figured there must be something off about her name or date of death, but she hadn't asked since Ryuk wouldn't bother giving her a straight answer anyways. 

"Where are we going?" Ryuk questioned as she led the way to the underground subway station. 

"To-Oh," she responded in a quiet murmur so it went almost unheard by the many people hurrying around them to get to their appointments and whatnot. She figured that she needed to get out of the house more often as well. Her mother kept looking at her worriedly every time they were in a room together, and despite how much she loved the woman, (Y/N) was getting sick of it. 

Besides, it was sort of a special day for Light, what with the speech giving. She hadn't been all that surprised when he had gotten a perfect score- sure, she knew that it wasn't something he just achieved with his intellect as it required a good amount of work on his part, but (Y/N) knew Light's thirst for always doing the best and meeting all expectations effortlessly. 

Even though she hadn't ever put in as much effort as he did, (Y/N) was incredibly proud of all of his achievements. Except for maybe being the most mysterious serial killer in the world- she could do without that one. 

Without getting directly involved, the only way she could help Light was by making him seem more like a normal teenager rather than the inherent genius that was more susceptible to suspicion. The cameras hadn't stayed long in their home, and since Light had yet to be arrested, she guessed they didn't find anything too incriminating in him devouring potato chips that secretly hid the mini-TV that she had helped him buy on their way home from the café. 

Her answer to Light had been honest in that she didn't have a particular opinion on Kira's actions and mission. Ethically, just the act of blatant mass murder was wrong, but the fact that he exclusively targeted criminals lessened the impact of the word 'homicide'. This was, of course, excluding the deaths of those that unfortunately got in his way- something she was more openly against- but in the overall, she wasn't going to put a stop to what he was doing as long as he didn't try to wipe out their family or got himself killed. 

Technically, hiding and protecting a criminal in itself was a crime, and it could definitely lead to her losing her job, but it wasn't like she could just throw her baby brother out to the wolves because of his own childish black-and-white worldview, and stupid moral code. If he got caught, Light would most likely be given a death penalty for his crimes, and she would do her best to make sure that didn't happen. 

It seemed as though in the time it took for her to arrive and walk from the station to the university, the ceremony had already let out, and the students were just beginning to file out of the venue. Figuring that Light had to be somewhere among them, she carefully picked her way through the crowd, distractedly searching for her beanstalk of a brother, and barely avoiding bumping into people. 

"Oh, sorry," (Y/N) blurted out, coming to a screeching halt when she nearly ran right into a white t-shirt, looking up at the awkward proximity between her and what she swore was a human-panda hybrid. 

The man in question blinked down owlishly at her, seemingly examining her before he acknowledged her apology. "It's alright," he nodded, side stepping her to walk towards a waiting limo that had her eyebrows rising in surprise. 

Shaking her head, she turned to resume her search for Light, but it seemed that she was found before she could do any finding. A hand latched onto her wrist, tugging her through the stampede of students and to the side where she could finally see that her kidnapper was none other than the guy she was looking for. 

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she caught sight of his troubled expression. 

"I just met a guy who said he was L," Light revealed, and once more, her eyebrows shot up. "Does this mean they're on to me? Why the heck would he do that?" 

She watched him rake frustrated fingers through his hair with furrowed eyebrows, mind desperately working to figure out the situation, and it seemed to click instantaneously. "The case and evidence must be at a standstill," she voiced, and Light froze as though he couldn't believe the thought hadn't occurred to him. 

"That guy was probably not even the real L," her brother breathed, laughing slightly. "It was probably just a ploy to try and provoke me into saying something that could be used against me." 

Nodding in agreement, she reached out to pat his shoulder comfortingly. "You shouldn't worry so easily, Otouto. It makes thinking rationally difficult and results in impulsive actions," (Y/N) stated, almost chidingly but not quite. 

With a sigh, Light nodded in acknowledgment. "What are you doing here anyways?" he questioned as they turned to walk back home. 

"Oh, well, I was getting bored at home, so I thought I'd come see how your little ceremony went. I'm assuming it wasn't as boring and you thought at first?" she grinned playfully at the end, while Light sighed exasperatedly and requested that she refrain from reminding him. 

"I had to share the speech, you know," he informed. "There was another guy with a perfect score- the one who claimed to be L." 

She didn't voice her curiosity of how that conversation went, instead questioning the supposed detective's appearance. "Did he have raccoon eyes? Wearing a white t-shirt and faded out jeans with old shoes?" she asked, going off on a whim and describing the guy she nearly bumped into. She wasn't expecting to be right. 

"How did you know?" Light asked skeptically while she blinked, bewildered that she had guessed correctly. 

"I nearly ran into the guy, then," she admitted. "Almost got a face full of crazy black hair and a wonderful view of that hunched back as well before he got into a freaking limousine." 

Her brother didn't respond, looking to be deep in thought. "I can use this," he realized quietly, and (Y/N) sighed at the apparent resurfacing of homicidal tendencies. "If I get him to trust me enough to reveal his real name, I could get rid of the one thing that stands in my way." 

This declaration was followed by a stream of breathy laughter while (Y/N) kept her silence, watching another bit of the Light she grew up with slip away as Kira replaced him, little by little. 

She figured that with lack of evidence and her brother as prime suspect, it made sense for L to try and do what Light was planning to do now. They were both most probably going for the old, and likely unsuccessful trick of feigning friendship, gaining trust and eventually, required information. (Y/N), for one, didn't see it working, but she'd let them play it out while she watched from the sidelines. 

The world could burn, and she wouldn't care as long as nobody she cared about got burnt, and she got front row seats with a large bucket of popcorn. 

But, of course, with how involved they were, her family couldn't get away scotch free and Soichiro Yagami was the first to feel the flames when the stress became too much. 

When (Y/N) got the call from her mother, she thought her heart had failed along with her father's. Sure, she had been calm when she excused herself from her therapist's office, but the moment she had set foot outside the building, (Y/N) had been frantic in hailing a taxi and getting to the hospital. She couldn't help the awful thought that maybe Light was responsible for the heart attack, and as much as she convinced herself of the otherwise, the doubt refused to be dislodged from the back of her mind. 

Her brain had zoned out in the space between the taxi ride and reaching the room assigned to her father, and she only really registered where she was after throwing open the door to find Sayu and her mother already inside, seated by his bedside. 

"Dad," she breathed, crossing the short distance between the door and his bed to sit down before she carefully wrapped her arms around him. 

Wordlessly, Soichiro smoothed down her hair, pressing a kiss to her head in reassurance that he was still alive and well. "I'll be alright, (Y/N)," he smiled as she pulled away with a frown. 

"This was because of stress, right?" the young woman confirmed. "Not...anything else?" 

Soichiro smiled sheepishly, nodding as best as he could. "I guess I've been working myself too hard," he sighed as she shot him a brief disapproving look.

Turning to her mother as she picked up on Light's absence, (Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "Where's Light?" she asked, nodding when her mother explained that he had been called and was on his way at that very moment. 

"I've never seen you look so worried before, (Y/N)," Sayu noted with a tired smile of her own, and (Y/N) matched it as she reached out and ruffled her younger sister's hair. 

"Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting to even feel that scared on my visit," the (h/c)-haired woman admitted softly, swallowing as her brain saw fit to remind her of the incident that gave her PTSD in the first place, and she felt the ghost of a gun at her temple. Absentmindedly brushing her fingers over the spot, she cleared her throat and turned back to find her father watching her actions with a visible frown. 

She had told him that something had happened and her mentor saw fit to send her home for recovery, but she hadn't elaborated despite her father's pressing to share. She just didn't want to have to constantly relive the experience or have her family suddenly treat her like she was sick. 

Sachiko was already being a little careful around her after the woman had woken up on multiple occasions during the middle of the night because of (Y/N)'s crying or screaming after a nightmare. 

Her thought process was interrupted by the door being thrown open once again, this time to reveal a frazzled looking Light in the doorway and the apathetic seeming man who she knew to be L standing right behind him. 

Eyebrows rising at the strange company her brother was keeping, (Y/N) only watched as Sachiko stood up to greet her son, calling for Sayu before they both left the room. Her father didn't ask her to leave, and she remained seated as the two males took the newly vacated chairs.

"Light," their father acknowledged before his gaze slid to the only stranger in the room, fondness disappearing from his face. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Ryuzaki." 

"You are an exceptionally important part of the investigative team, Mr. Yagami. I had to make sure of your well-being," the male in question said, and she assumed he was going by 'Ryuzaki' to keep his identity hidden. 

The older man's eyes landed on (Y/N) who had been watching this in silence, and if he could, he would've jolted in surprise, having forgotten her presence momentarily. "Ah, Ryuzaki, this is my eldest daughter- (Y/N)," Soichiro introduced. "(Y/N), I've been working on the Kira investigation with Ryuzaki." 

"You're a part of the investigation?" (Y/N) questioned, tilting her head as she acknowledged L with an amused smile. "I distinctly remember seeing you at To-Oh University, though."

Her younger brother shot her a pointed look to which she responded with the faintest quirk of her lip. "I'll leave you three to it then," she sighed out, standing up carefully so she was a respectable distance away from 'Ryuzaki' and walking towards the door till she was called to a stop by the black-haired male calling for her to stay. 

Turning around in bewilderment, (Y/N) shot the man a questioning glance, but he only gestured for to sit back down and although reluctantly, she did as was asked of her, exchanging a quick look with Light who only shrugged slightly. 

"So, the doctors say that stress was the only cause?" Light asked instead, leaning forward slightly. His body language was tense, but (Y/N) didn't know if it was because of their father's predicament or just being seated next to his biggest opponent. 

Soichiro nodded, "Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was Kira when I first collapsed, but I'll be alright. It seems that I've been pushing myself a bit too hard lately." 

"Indeed," Ryuzaki spoke up. "It must've added to your stress knowing that Light is a suspect in this investigation." 

Coughing awkwardly as Light looked up at this reveal, (Y/N) suppressed the feeling of intrusion that came with being an obvious outsider in this conversation. 

"You actually told my father that?" Light demanded incredulously. 

"Yes," Ryuzaki admitted easily. "In fact, I've told him everything." Then, turning to (Y/N), he asked, "You don't look too surprised at your brother being a possible suspect?" 

It took her a moment to gather her bearings after being addressed so suddenly, and for a second she could only blink. "Well, I know of the twelve FBI agents who had been sent here to assist the investigation, as well as the fact that Agent Raye Penber displayed some irregular behavior right before his death. I'm aware of the fact that mine was one of the families he had been tailing, so to suspect Light makes sense. In fact, given the circumstances, he's the most likely suspect, so I can't say I'm surprised at the accusation," she reasoned. 

There was a beat of silence in which all pairs of eyes were on her, but (Y/N) felt most uncomfortable under Ryuzaki's. "It seems as though both of your children have remarkable deductive reasoning, Mr. Yagami," he said at last, not looking away from the only female in the room. "What else can you deduce, (Y/N)?" 

"About the case?" the woman confirmed. "There isn't much for me to deduce when I've had access to all the information I wanted regarding the case history as it was given by L, I'm afraid. It would be unfair observations." 

"Alright," he accepted. "About me, then." 

Oh, this just keeps getting better and better, she thought to herself. I should've left when I had the chance. 

Clearing her throat, she wished she could dispel the tense atmosphere in the room. Or rather have her father and Light disappear because their incessant staring was really making her skin crawl. 

"You're obviously an insomniac," she began, deciding to throw her consciously polite demeanor to the wind and examine him as brazenly as he had been doing mere minutes ago. "You seem to have forced yourself into detachment from your emotions considering the ever present monotone. Obviously you don't get out a lot, hence the almost sickly paleness and blatant lack of socially expected manners. My guess is that you sit like that to increase blood supply to your brain, allowing you to think at a much faster rate than normal. Your posture is probably slumped out of emotional burden rather than a spinal problem. Although you're fluent, your accent in Japanese gives away your English or American descent and upbringing. 

"I've seen you at the university, but judging by your skin and texture, I'd say you're in your mid to early twenties. Although your posture is horrifying, you seem to be quite flexible, so I'm assuming you frequently practice some form of martial arts involving your legs. You're a part of the case, obviously, but you definitely do not belong to the NPA, meaning that you're an external helper, but judging by the respect with which my father addresses you and your careless accusation of my brother in his presence, you're obviously more than important. My guess? You're actually L."

Silence followed her thoughtless rambling, and she inhaled deeply to regulate the oxygen supply in her body once more, feeling out of breath from the continuous talking. 

"Remarkable," L murmured quietly, first to break the silence. "I'd received your files and almost perfect track record, but I must admit that I'm impressed." 

Turning to Light, L addressed him, "Your sister has already reasoned as to my identity." 

"That's correct," Soichiro confirmed. "This man is L. To protect his identity, we, on the Task Force, call him Ryuzaki, but make no mistake. It's really him." 

(Y/N) could see how this statement sent the gears in Light's head spinning all the while L looked absolutely unbothered by those surrounding him. Seemingly coming to a conclusion, Light turned back to their father. 

"So, Ryuzaki," the Yagami patriarch began, "now that you've had the chance to talk to my son- is he cleared as a suspect?" 

The three Yagamis waited with baited breath for the response that came after barely a moment of thought. "When I say that I suspect him, you should know that it's very minor," L informed, resulting in (Y/N) almost scoffing. She highly doubted the likelihood of that when she knew of what many agents had to say about him in the FBI after his involvement with them in LA BB murders. To put it simply, L was a liar and barely within the legal limits to get what he wanted. 

"We've already gone over this, and how Raye Penber's death points to Light," the insomniac added.

Crossing his arms, Light leaned back in his chair. "I understand. It only makes sense I'd be a suspect." Turning to look briefly at L, he amended, "No. To be more precise- there's no one else you could suspect." 

Of course, it could just be her imagination, but she could've sworn she saw the barest hints of a smile on L's face at Light's reasoning. "I find Light's deductive powers quite impressive," the man commented. "He's always quick and to the point." 

"Ryuga," Light began, "I'd like to help with the investigation. My father has erased any doubts I might've had regarding your true identity. Also, I'd like nothing more than to catch Kira so I can prove once and for all that I'm not him." 

The declaration brought some surprise to her- she didn't think he would get this involved in such short time. 

"No, Light," Soichiro interjected. "This is a time in your life when you should be studying to become a police officer. It won't be too late to join us once you are done." 

Watching the scene unfold as a third party that was aware of all sides of the situation was honestly quite interesting, (Y/N) found as Light opened his mouth to protest. "Come on, Dad, what are you talking about? Who knows how many years that will take?" he argued. "Besides, don't you remember my promise? If something ever happened to you, I would find Kira and make sure he gets executed." 

Her eyebrows rose slightly when this came forward. Evidently, this conversation must have taken place in her absence, but she expected nothing less of her brother. Light was awfully dramatic after all, and being this cheesy must've been his default setting when it came to their father. 

"Light, listen to me," their father spoke, prompting the youngest amongst them to lift his head. "Kira is pure evil- we can all agree on that, but recently I have started seeing this situation in a different way." Soichiro closed his eyes while (Y/N) mentally remarked on how he'd just unintentionally called his own son evil. "What is truly evil is the power to kill people, and any person who is able to obtain this power is cursed. No matter how use it, no true happiness can be obtained like that. Not by killing other people." 

But didn't they all have the power to kill? It was a choice above anything else, and the subsequent results were what decided how a person would be remembered- as good or as evil. Personally, she didn't believe that those were the only two categories. Nobody could conform to truly good or truly evil- there were so many different types of intentions that no one could be exactly categorized within only two labels. 

"I think you're absolutely right," L vocalized his agreement, staring at Light. "If Kira is just a normal person who somehow obtained this power, I would say he is cursed." 

And just this once, she found herself in silent agreement. Realistically, crime could never be completely wiped out. People would simply get better at hiding their wrongdoings and instead, this little mission would cost Light his sanity and those who genuinely care about him. But she would see her brother on that figurative throne if only to ensure that he stay alive. 

"Ryuzaki, I'm sorry for all this mess. I'll be back at work as soon as they let me out of here," Soichiro assured, but (Y/N) was quick to shoot him a pointed glower. 

"This time, however, you will be more considerate of your health. Honestly, Dad, this scare alone was terrible. Try not to be so hard on yourself," she asserted, standing up just as a nurse came in to ask them to leave, saying visiting hours were over ten minutes ago. 

It was silent between the three of them as they exited the hospital building together. Light was deep in obvious contemplation, and neither (Y/N) nor L made any moves to engage in conversation. 

Finally, it was the tall brunet who spoke first as the mysterious detective shuffled over to the car waiting right outside. "Ryuga," he called hesitantly. "What would it take to prove to you that I'm not Kira. Please. Isn't there something?" 

Instinctively, the (h/c)-haired woman reached out and gripped his forearm as L turned to look at the siblings. "If you are not Kira, then it won't be necessary. Let things take their course, and the truth will be revealed," he answered. 

Beneath her grip, Light tensed, prompting her to tighten it while silently wishing he would just shut up already. "I can't take this anymore! Put yourself in my position. How do you think it feels to be accused of being Kira?" the boy exclaimed. 

Honestly, (Y/N) thought he should have pursued a career in acting instead of this detective business. 

"It would be one of the worst feelings ever," L responded thoughtfully. 

"What if you were to lock me up for a month in a place with no TV or any other access to the outside world, and keep a constant watch over me?" Light suggested, and this time (Y/N) looked at him incredulously, stepping pointedly on his toes. 

It seemed to have definitely gotten to L as the man looked to be deep in thought. (Y/N) on the other hand only wanted to reprimand Light for maybe taking it too far this time. Logically, anyone innocent would be secure in the knowledge that they really weren't to blame and eventually, this would be proved. To go to such lengths seemed shady as hell to her, but given that L was hardly normal and wouldn't have the same idea, maybe her brother would get away with his careless remedy. 

At last, L tilted his head. "That's no good," he drawled. "I can't do anything that would deprive you of basic human rights. And, furthermore, it's complete nonsense for the investigator to take suggestions from his suspect." 

Looking stumped for a moment, Light was quick to gather his bearings and straighten. "I understand," he muttered while L was helped into the car by an elderly man. 

"Don't worry so much," the raven haired man attempted at consolation. "Be patient; it will become apparent to us if you're not Kira. Listening to that conversation between you and your father, I was almost convinced that you might not be him. Light, please take good care of Mr. Yagami." 

Leaning down to look through the car window, Light cut in before they could drive off. "Uh, one more thing. I know I said I'd help with the investigation, but I don't think I could do much until my father's healthy again." 

(Y/N) stood right beside him, carefully watching the man who could very well be responsible for her brother's death. 

"Yes, of course," L accepted before turning to the (h/c)-haired woman who seemed to be analyzing him. "I would also like for you to consider joining the Task Force, Ms. Yagami. Your current employment will not be a problem if you do join us." 

Pursing her lips, she nodded. "I'll think about it," she muttered. 

The car's engine was started up and L turned to face forward. "Well, then," being his parting words, the vehicle drove off, leaving the two siblings behind. 

"I can't believe you just offered that," the woman snapped as soon as the car was a reasonable distance away from them. "Do you have any idea what that would do to Dad? Or the rest of us for that matter." 

"Relax," the boy told her. "He said it himself- he couldn't have done it, and I knew that." 

She clenched her jaw, but accepted it all the same, not having the energy to argue with Light when he was feeling more arrogant than usual. "Do you think I should join the investigation?" she asked instead, dully noting that Ryuk had rejoined them from wherever he had been. 

In response, Light shrugged. "I am going to join for sure. Having you around as well could be helpful," he muttered to himself, and she sighed, knowing that everything was a possibly compromising move to her genius of a brother. 

(Y/N) had always known Light was dangerous with his intelligence, cynicism and tendency to find his surroundings boring. She should've foreseen that it could (and most likely would) lead to his downfall. For now, all she could do was hope to prevent it. 

"I never once felt cursed since I picked up the Death Note," Light remarked, eyes wandering back to where the car had disappeared down the street. "In fact, the thought never even once crossed my mind. I'm happier than I've ever been- all thanks to this power." 

He looked skyward, and she followed his gaze to the full moon, shining down brightly through the dissipating clouds. "I'm going to create a perfect world." 

Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, (Y/N) sighed through her nose. _If only perfection existed in the sense you're looking to achieve, Otouto_ , she thought to herself. 

"Honestly," Ryuk grunted. "I could care less whether you feel cursed or happy to have picked up a notebook. I'll leave that sentimental crap to you humans. But, normally, humans who come into contact with a Shinigami have nothing but misfortune." 

Sparing him a glance, Light turned to begin walking home, and (Y/N) sighed at the prospect of having to cover all that distance by foot. "That's interesting," her brother was saying, "but I have no intentions of repeating that pattern." 

"Well, I hope you're right about that," Ryuk chuckled, leaving her to give her silent agreement.

They could only hope.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Y/n) Yagami wasn't a chess piece he'd be able to control, L realized grimly. She could prove to be serious trouble.

(Y/n) swore that Sakura TV was the sole reason for all IQ drops among the females of Japan as she watched the mindless nonsense distastefully, wondering why Sayu even bothered to pause on the channel, even if it was only briefly- to 'make sure Hideki Ryuuga isn't on', as her sister put it. 

Scoffing to herself, the young woman returned her attention to the laptop screen where she was looking through footage sent to her by her team's tech analyst, providing her assistance where she could, scrutinizing each passing frame. She was glad that Sayu's attention was more or less too consumed by the images flashing across the TV to notice the disturbing video playing across her older sister's laptop screen. 

The preteen was pretty much the only member of the Yagami household whose innocence had yet to leave her, and if it was up to (Y/n), it would damn well remain that way till her little sister entered high school and was met with all sorts of...experiences. When it came to Sayu, (Y/n) was honestly slightly bitter about Light's personal mission because there was no way anyone could grow up with the same kind of naïve ignorance that Sayu possessed while criminals continued to drop dead like flies. 

Her brother didn't realize that all he would succeed in doing was making criminals better at hiding rather than removing crime itself from their planet. Logically, it wasn't something that was possible. There were too many things that had to be corrected in the many systems of the world, and it would take quite a few lifetimes before all of that could be perfected. Crime wasn't just as simple as theft or murder. 

There were so many aspects to it- triggers, circumstances, force, survival. To erase crime and criminals, Light would have to remove poverty from all parts of the world. He'd have to dig into every little secret of each government that existed and annihilate the corruption that was so deeply rooted in most of them. Education would have to be made accessible to every child, healthcare would have to be drastically improved, employment opportunities would have to be increased. All feats were monumental alone, but to achieve all of them was very much impossible. 

In the end, all that Light could achieve was the label of a homicidal maniac with a god complex, and even though he would have made history, not a dent would be made in how the world works in terms of criminals and innocents. 

Despite knowing this, however, (Y/n) was smart enough to know that Light would refuse to see any reason if she were to bring it up, and given how narcissistic and impulsive he'd gotten lately, it might lead him to seeing her as an enemy, and cosequently killing her. Sure, she wanted to protect her family and keep them from falling apart, but she also had a deep sense of self-preservation that kept her from voicing all of her thoughts around her little brother as of late. 

What she needed to do was get rid of the Death Note. 

The conclusion had already occurred to her, but it still made her pause in the middle of typing. Sooner or later, she would have to see what she could coax out of Ryuk about the Death Note and forfeiting ownership. Pursing her lips at the thought of what would most likely end up being a fruitless mission, (Y/n) barely registered the dramatic turn of events that was taking place live on Sakura TV. 

It was the eerily typed 'Kira' appearing across the screen that really caught her attention, and with a frown, the young woman pushed down the laptop screen, safely placing the device beside her before leaning forward with narrowed eyes. She knew that this wasn't Light's doing, so who was it? 

Was there another notebook? Was this a copycat killer? Did her brother know of this beforehand? What was this Kira's motive? 

So many questions and not enough details to deduce from.

"A second Kira?" Sayu spoke, turning to the older female with fear in her wide brown eyes. 

(Y/n) could only nod stiffly, shifting from the sofa to sit beside her younger sister on the ground and pull her into a comforting one-armed embrace. Sayu leaned into her, watching the events unfold onscreen with an evidently upset expression on her face while (Y/n) stared on impassively. 

Since Sakura TV was so obviously aimed at and primarily viewed by women, she would guess that this second Kira was a female. The Unsub was most likely young considering speech patterns and how impressionable they seemed, seeming to be quite taken with the original Kira (who just so happend to be right upstairs). (Y/n)'s guess was that this Kira wasn't driven by a motive like Light's, but rather, most probabaly only wanted attention and to be noticed by the first Kira, who they obviously looked up to enough to basically offer their services as a subordinate instead of killing secretly when all the blame would go to the original Kira. 

Her thought process was brought to a halt when the streaming stopped abruptly, and before anything else could happen, (Y/n) extracted the remote from Sayu's grip and switched off the TV. 

"That's enough excitement for the day, don't you think?" the woman breathed into the sudden silence that had befallen the living room. 

Stunned, Sayu nodded. "I think it's enough for the month," she muttered, still staring at the TV. 

With a small smile, (Y/n) gave the girl's shoulders one last squeeze before releasing her to stand up and stretch. "Let's hope the Kiras think so, too," she commented as she gathered her laptop in her arms and moved to climb up the stairs. "Goodness knows we don't need more murder drama," the profiler added under her breath. 

Coming to a pause before her brother's door, she sighed before knocking on it, waiting for the response to come in before she opened it and entered. Easing it shut behind her, (Y/n) leaned against the door as she watched Light for a moment. "I'm assuming you saw all that."

Light nodded in confirmation, obviously deep in contemplation. This was, after all, a surprising turn of events. "This impostor has obviously made the eye deal with their Shinigami," he deduced, not paying her any attention she crossed over to perch on the edge of his bed.

"Are you planning on making an ally out of this fake Kira?" she deadpanned, eyebrows rising. She'd have thought that Light would prefer to work alone to reduce risks of getting caught, but then again, what with his latest obsession to find out L's real name and kill him, she couldn't say she was surprised. 

In response, he hummed. "I'll have to get on the Task Force if I want to catch this impostor before they do," he muttered, largely to himself. "I can't leave this fake on their own for much longer. They may sympathize with my ideals, and their power to kill surpasses even that of mine, but whoever they are, they're tarnishing Kira's image with killing innocents. Besides, it gives me a chance to get closer to L."

For a moment, Light fought a spike of discomfort as (Y/n)'s gaze shifted to cold and calculating while she seemed to be studying him in the detached manner he'd expect her to use with the criminals she caught as part of her job. Then, she nodded once in acknowledgment of his decision, standing up. 

"I'm joining with you," she informed decidedly, fixing him with a penetrating glare before he could even open his mouth to suggest otherwise. If (Y/n) wanted things to turn out like how she wanted, then she needed to be at the center of activity, and that happened to be at Task Force HQ where both adversaries would soon be working side-by-side.

She knew that while he preferred having her opinion on things, Light wouldn't tell her everything. Her presence at HQ, however, would ensure that she got maximum insight into his little schemes so she could make sure he didn't just get killed on the way. 

It seemed that she would have to have that conversation with Ryuk much sooner than she'd like.

(Y/n) hadn't been particularly stressed about how she'd manage to get on the Task Force. She knew that L would want Light somewhere he could keep a constant watch over the prime suspect, and also determine his guilt or innocence. Since he'd already extended that invitation to her as well, she figured she'd just accompany Light to their HQ, and become a part of the investigating team whether they intended for her to do so, or not.

She'd never played by the rules of anyone else's book but her own. Why should this be any different? Besides, she rather liked the sound of maybe surprising L since the guy always seemed to be a step ahead, or just really unfazed even if he wasn't.  Awkward situations weren't something she particularly cared about- something that quite contrasted the mindful manners of the Japanese that she had been brought up with. 

Of course, she didn't think that the phone call of formal invitation would arrive so soon- the very next day, to be more specific. Light had been awfully curt during the whole affair of informing her that the two of them had been called to the Task Force to aid the investigation. 

Her guess was that he was still upset about not getting a word of opinion against her decision, but if it was that which prompted his little tantrum, then she could care less. Light was just going to have to build a bridge, and get over it because he was not going to boss her around. 

The moment (Y/n) began letting him influence her actions as though she were a mere puppet, she would become a pawn in Light's eyes- a disposable piece on the chess board. Naturally, this was something she refused to let happen. Besides, if she let her little brother do as he pleased all the time, not only would she end up killed, he'd most likely end up dead as well. Clearly a lose-lose situation.

It didn't benefit anyone, except for maybe L. 

Hence, with this in mind, the Yagami siblings soon found themselves riding the elevator up to the hotel room they'd been told currently belonged to the no.1 detective, tense anticipation charging the air as they both tried to predict what could happen in the moments that would follow.

The door was quickly opened to let them into the arguably lavishly decorated room where L himself stood to welcome the two of them. Slowly approaching the pair, the detective extended his hand, and Light quickly grasped it, giving it a firm shake.

"Thank you, Light," L droned mechanically. 

"Not at all," her brother responded, and her eyebrows raised slightly at how both males seemed to have forgotten her existence. Not that she was particularly offended. "After all," the tall brunet continued, "I want to catch Kira as much as you do, Ryuuga."

Pulling out of the handshake, L returned his hand to his side. "I'm going to have to ask that you refer to me as Ryuzaki here," he stated. "Naturally, that goes for you, too, (Y/n)," he added, his gaze finally sliding over to acknowledge her. She gave a slight nod, deciding against pointing out that she hadn't given him permission to use her first name.

L cared even less than her about the social expectations in Japanese culture. She didn't even want to think of what he'd respond with. It was much easier to just let it go and move on. Taking things in stride was, after all, sort of her specialty.

"I'm Matsui, " the young man who she knew for a fact was actually Touta Matsuda chimed in. 

"I'm Aihara," Aizawa added, and was quickly followed by their father who introduced himself as Asahi. 

She'd expected the aliases as a precaution, even if it didn't do anything to hinder Light who already knew all of their real names. Still, she didn't voice the same, choosing to hum in acknowledgment instead. "Yes, of course," she muttered quietly, maintaining a polite smile out of courtesy. 

"Then, perhaps, we should also call ourselves Light and (Y/n) Asahi?" Light questioned. 

He received a single nod of confirmation from L. "Yes, please do," he added verbally. "To keep things simple from this point on, I'll simply refer to the both of you by your respective first names."

The siblings gave their unspoken approval, even though L most certainly didn't need it. 

"Okay, let's get down to work," the raven-haired man announced, turning to lead further into the room. "You can start by looking over all the information we've collected. I'd also like for you to examine these videos. They were sent to the TV station, but never aired. For security reasons, you're not allowed to take any notes and all materials must remain here."

Light dropped into the single sofa placed in front of the TV, leaving (Y/n) to stand behind him. She couldn't help but think that this also kind of reflected their relationship- Light wanted to be seated on a throne, and she was only looking to protect him.

"I understand," her brother accepted, taking the conditions that were put forth in his stride. 

While L announced that they were going to begin and the tape loaded, (Y/n) noticed their father staring solemnly at Light. There was something akin to guilt in the lines on his face, and it only suggested that he felt bad about being a prominent part of an investigation that was currently being held against his very own son. 

(Y/n)'s comfort lay in the fact that her alibi was so rock solid she couldn't be considered a suspect at all. After all, L had deduced that Kira resided in the Kanto region of Japan when she had been all the way over in North America, recovering after her 'incident'. Her guess was that L was hoping she'd know of her brother's secret and would be willing to give it away if the detective managed to gain her trust enough for her to be able to share that kind of thing. 

It wasn't a bad plan since it was no secret that her little brother did tell her almost everything, but if that really was L's intention, then that plan was a dead bust. (Y/n)'s trust wasn't as easily gained to begin with. Not to mention that expecting her loyalties to be so easily swayed would be stupidity on L's part, and the detective was by no means stupid. 

Her gaze slid over to the man himself, finding that he was already watching her as if he was aware of the conclusion she'd drawn. 

He was waiting for her to slip up. 

Looking away from the male in question, (Y/n) turned her attention to the audio clip being played, featuring the same modified voice from the previous night. Her focus, however, wasn't on the what the voice itself was saying, but rather her brother's reaction to the words. 

It may not be obvious, but she could pick up on the tension in his shoulder muscles. Anyone else would most likely put it off on being in the presence of the famed detective L, but she knew that it was really anger from the mediocrity of the video, and the crap the second Kira was spouting. 

She moved a hand to place on his shoulder, a gesture of comfort and warning, reminding him to keep his cool. Light needed his facade now more than ever. It was his conclusion that the team was waiting on, and if he made a mistake and said something out of turn, it would all be over for him instantly. 

L was already highly suspicious if he went as far as revealing his face and inviting Light to the Task Force HQ. Any further confirmation would lead to the investigation becoming even more centered on Light.

"So, what do the two of you make of it?" L interjected as soon as the video was over. "Have you come to any conclusions?"

It wasn't difficult to pick up on the fact that despite the question being directed to both the siblings, it was really aimed towards Light, and having picked up on this, her brother too derived that this was all really just a test. 

Rising to his feet, Light cleared his throat. "Well, it's hard to say for sure, but it's likely that there's another person out there with Kira's power."

"With Kira's power?" Soichiro repeated. "But what do you mean by that, Light?"

Real smooth, Dad, (Y/n) thought, eyebrow rising slightly.

"At the very least, I'd say that this tape wasn't created by the Kira that we're familiar with," Light explained, gesturing to the screen behind him. "It's extremely out of character for him to use these kind of victims for his killings. And since we've established that he needs a name and a face to kill, it makes you wonder how he was able to kill that detective and those two officers right outside the television station like that."

There was a stunned silence in the room that had her lips twitching up in an amused smile as the three Japanese detectives stared in bewilderment at the youngest occupant of the room.

"It's the same," Aizawa mumbled quietly. 

"That's almost exactly the same as L- I mean, Ryuzaki said it," Matsuda added. 

Ignoring this, L said, "I think you're exactly right about that. We also think that this is the work of a second Kira." Turning to (Y/n), his gaze once more became inquisitive. "Is there anything you'd like to add to that?" he asked her, and she figured she may as well voice some of her own conclusions if she didn't want to be underestimated in comparison to Light. 

"This second Unsub is most likely a native female. Someone in her early to mid-20s. She's probably someone who suffered a terrible loss at the hands of a criminal who was punished by Kira, and now feels the need to initiate contact using this ability that she shares with the original Kira. Since she evidently only needs a face to kill, she'd most likely be staying in one of the hotels surrounding the TV station building, given that there are no residential buildings nearby with a clear view of the building, it leads me to believe that she has the means to not only afford such accommodations, but also produce multiple tapes of such high quality. So, someone with a high paying job despite the fact that she's relatively young. She'll also be a loud and active supporter of Kira, and would've most likely already tried to reach out to him via the many websites," (Y/n) recited, adding more to the rough profile as she went, trying to figure out if there was anything else that she was missing.

Honestly, if she gave all that to her team's tech analyst back at the BAU, they'd already have a list of the most likely suspects, but that wasn't really how things worked everywhere else. Profiling wasn't a sure science, and it was often received with skepticism that reduced its credibility. 

Nevertheless, it served its intended purpose, successfully having impressed the other detectives in the room.

"You got all that from listening to that one tape?" Matsuda breathed in awe. "That's amazing."

L nodded in agreement, while she smiled in thanks at the young police officer who immediately grew flustered. "Indeed," L muttered. "I can see why your superiors at the FBI have such high opinions regarding your work."

"Hang on," Light cut in, crossing his arms. "If you already knew that there was a second Kira, then that means that this was just another test."

(Y/n) barely suppressed a snort at the parallel that came to her mind of the whole scene looking all too much like a lovers' quarrel. 

"It wasn't my intention to test you," L explained monotonously. "You see, if I was the only one who thought that there was a second Kira, it wouldn't be too convincing. But the fact that all three of us arrived at the same conclusion makes the theory all the more believable. As expected, neither of you disappointed us. You've been a great help."

Done with feeding them lies, the gray-eyed man's attention turned to the case itself. "It's decided then," he began. "First, we must focus on stopping this copycat. From what we've seen, she clearly sympathizes with the first Kira, but lacks his sophistication. In fact, she's most likely willing to obey the original. If so, we can lure her into a trap by sending her our own message from the first Kira."

 _Yup_ , she mentally remarked. _Barely legal._  

She also noticed how L had referred to second Kira with female pronouns, implying that he'd taken her profile in consideration. Since she did regard his label as the world's best detective with respect, understandably, she felt some pride in the knowledge that her profile had been accepted by him.

"Light, I would like for you to play the part of the real Kira."

(Y/n) decided right then that joining the Task Force was worth it if she got to see that same split second of shock register on Light's face more often.

Her brother swallowed. "Me? As Kira?" he confirmed.

"Yes," L affirmed. "You're the best candidate I can think of who'd be able to pull something like this off. Anyway, we don't have time to lose. Do you think you could script a message from Kira in time for it to be aired on this evening's national news?"

Behind Light, Ryuk had begun to cackle at the irony of the situation, and (Y/n) definitely saw where he was coming from. She supposed that the whole situation could be considered amusing from an unrelated party's point of view. While she could see the humor behind all of it, she also felt pretty much unamused with how much L was trying to get Light to slip up.

Giving a wordless nod, Light turned to see to the completion of his task, leaving L to turn to her instead while everyone else returned to their respective workstations, picking up where they left off. "Would you mind formulating a profile of the original Kira for me?" he inquired as he led her to an adjoining room where three computers were mounted on a desk, each showing the latest updates on anything related to Kira.

"Are you sure you'd like to work with a profile?" she question incredulously. "Making an arrest based on one requires solid proof," she added in warning, mentally already working on it, trying to be objective to sound as honest as possible.

"I think it could assist the investigation by giving us something more concrete to work with as it would narrow down the list of suspects," he assured, shuffling over to crouch on the only computer chair in the room, leaving her to shuffle inside while remaining standing. "Besides, I am curious to see what you come up with."

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, (Y/n) went through a mental check-list to make sure she'd only included what she could've known as an FBI agent. 

With a deep breath, she began. "As you've already gathered, Kira is a native Japanese youth- someone who is probably in their late teens to early twenties since they have a basic sense of right and wrong, but also the typical black-and-white worldview that is typically associated with the young people of this generation. He is most likely male; someone with an unobvious narcissistic personality disorder. He is fluent in English, and given the obvious intellect needed to cause you this much trouble and his own ego, he will have impeccable grades. Aside from being related to someone in the NPA, Kira also has a good understanding of technology. Finding out Agent Raye Penber's name and then carrying out his murder would require direct contact, so he is also probably someone who is generally considered handsome and charismatic."

L stared at her impassively for a moment before finally speaking up. "You are aware that you just gave an almost perfect description of your brother, correct?" he confirmed, eliciting a sigh in response. 

"I can't deny that I have realized that Light is basically a match fit for the profile," she admitted wearily. 

"Are you saying that my suspecting Light is justified?" She wasn't sure, but L sounded almost surprised.

(Y/n) pursed her lips. "Profiling is an inexact science," she shrugged. "Besides, asking me such a question is rather pointless since I would be inclined to believing in my brother's innocence until proven otherwise."

That said, since she saw no more reason to stay and potentially get interrogated, the young woman began moving towards the doorway leading back to the main room when L called out to her with yet another inquiry.

"Hypothetically speaking," L began, prompting her to turn around and face him, "if your brother really was Kira, would you know about it?"

Narrowing her eyes, she nodded slowly, "It's a good bet."

"And you would support him despite the fact that he has killed hundreds already?" the man tilted his head, blinking owlishly at her. 

For a moment, she was silent, pulling her eyebrows together while trying to figure out just what he was hoping to gather from this. He couldn't honestly think she'd be this easy. "I wouldn't aid his killings, if that's what you're asking."

"But you would protect his secret?"

She figured it was safer to just be honest, so she shrugged and nodded. "I would."

"Knowingly harboring a criminal is a crime in and of itself, Ms. Yagami," he reminded, watching her carefully.

(Y/n) let a small smile grace her features, the slightest traces of amusement lingering in the lines of her face. "You'd need evidence to prove that, Ryuzaki," she pointed, "and if I wanted to really protect my brother, then even you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."

"You'd just let a criminal walk free for the sake of family?" he frowned, sounding genuinely put out at the prospect of such a severe denial of justice. 

Her eyebrows raised and she paused to consider the question whose answer she already knew. But she was done playing L's games, so she only smiled once more as she resumed her path to leaving the room. "This was only a hypothetical situation, right?" (Y/n) reminded over her shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything else from me, Ryuzaki. I'd like to return to my brother for now."

With that, she left the detective behind to stare at her retreating back thoughtfully. 

(Y/n) Yagami wasn't a chess piece he'd be able to control, L realized grimly. She could prove to be serious trouble.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're planning to wait till this copycat runs her mouth and slips up?" (Y/n) confirmed.
> 
> L nodded, "It's a pretty good bet."
> 
> Her eyes narrowed at the obvious reference to their previous conversation when she had said something almost exactly the same. Was it a reveal of his plans regarding her or was she simply reading too far into this?

"Ryuzaki," Watari's voice chimed as the laptop screen blinked to life, capturing the attention of all the occupants of the room, "we have a reply from the second Kira."

 _That was fast_ , (Y/n) thought, shifting to look at the screen as they all turned to hear what Watari had to say. 

"What?" her father furrowed his eyebrows, turning his back to the conversation he'd previously been having with L and Light. 

"I'll be bringing over the envelope and tape that we received, but in the meantime, I'm streaming a copy of the video so you can view it on your end," the elderly male's voice continued as the team gathered around the device whose screen shifted to display 'Kira' written in the same font as preferred by the second Unsub. 

There was a beat of silence before the modified voice filtered through. "Kira, thank you for the reply. Please do not worry. I will follow orders, and do as you say."

"It actually worked," Soichiro remarked as though he hadn't expected it to. Not that it was surprising since the NPA chose to do things more traditionally when compared to L's...eccentric methods. 

Meanwhile, Light looked quite put out at the prospect of being lumped with someone so utterly submissive and dependent. His demeanor immediately shifted, however, when the audio continued. 

"I really want to meet you," the second Kira was saying. "I don't think you have the eyes, but you don't have to worry. I would never target you- that's a promise."

(Y/n) watched as her brother shot her a wide-eyed look after making sure nobody had picked up on his reaction. Out of instinct, he reached out and gripped her hand tightly, leaving her to squeeze it in reassurance that the message didn't necessarily give away vital information. It would most probably be mistaken for a code of some sort. 

Still, this second Kira was a bigger idiot than (Y/n) had previously anticipated. If this Unsub only wanted to remain as Light's lackey, then she'd be a liability due to her own mindlessness. 

"What's this having the eyes supposed to mean?" Aizawa frowned. "Is it a code?"

(Y/n) gave props to herself for having a spot-on prediction. It was always a pleasure to be right. 

Her little moment was cut through by her ears picking up on L's increasingly irregular breathing. While everyone else was distracted by the second Kira's request to meet up somehow, without the police knowing, she frowned at the detective, stepping forward slightly out of concern as a colleague. 

And then, 'Shinigami' was mentioned. 

The reactions were instant. "Shinigami?" Matsuda and Aizawa echoed in loud skepticism while her father stood dumbfounded, looking as though he were afraid he might get another heart attack from the shock of it. 

Before anyone could make a move, a scream of terror ripped through the air, originating from L's throat as he threw his arms up as well. Seeing such a violent response from someone so reputedly unshakable was surprising to say the least, and consequently, (Y/n)'s eyebrows shot up as the detective, along with his cushioned chair, tipped sideways and came crashing to the floor. 

While Light watched this happen with a more or less unfazed look on his face, her next immediate reaction was to move towards the fallen detective as had become an ingrained response due to working as an FBI agent, and with a team as close knit as hers. She was prevented by following through with this urge, however, by the tightening of Light's grip on her hand, prompting her to turn and purse her lips at their linked fingers. 

It was a move to control her, and she recognized it, resulting in her slowly letting go of his hand. Despite this movement, though, she didn't crouch beside L as Matsuda and Aizawa had done, and it seemed that this course of action was enough to momentarily placate Light. 

"Sh-Shinigami?" L stuttered in horror. "Am I supposed to believe that? That Shinigami actually exist?"

Well, they did exist, but (Y/n) could feel some sympathy for the man since she had been in his shoes when Light had first introduced her to Ryuk. Of course, her reaction hadn't been nearly as dramatic, but she had felt that sense of unbalance and suppressed terror until she had realized that she could literally die every time she went out to her job and that being afraid was pointless. 

The thought of her firm belief in science being so suddenly uprooted had, naturally, been rather disconcerting, but to her credit, she had taken it all in her stride fairly quickly. 

Matsuda exhaled slowly. "That's impossible."

"Of course they don't exist," Aizawa further asserted, completely unaware of the fact that a Shinigami was looming right over his shoulder, and (Y/n) couldn't help sharing a fleeting glance of amusement with Ryuk who grinned at the irony of the situation. She was sure that he must be nowhere near bored with the happenings of the room. 

Light nodded once, not to be left out. "Yes," he agreed. "Ryuzaki, listen to yourself. Of course Shinigami don't exist."

She really wondered how her brother managed to say that with a straight face while Ryuk was floating around the room, coming to a stop to peer right over his head. 

Shakily, L turned to glance back at them. "You're probably right, but I remember that the first Kira said something that also suggested the existence of Shinigami," he defended weakly. 

 _L, do you know that Gods of death love apples?_  

(Y/n) remembered that, and it seemed that now, L was feeling disinclined to believe that it was only a prank- nothing than a move on Kira's part to toy with his greatest adversary. 

"So, based on that fact," Soichiro swallowed, "perhaps we're dealing with the same person after all. It would definitely explain why we're hearing the use of the same words."

  Deciding to cut in, she clicked her tongue. "I'd have to disagree with you on that one, Dad," she shook her head. "It's more likely that our two Unsubs belong to the same cult, perhaps. It might just be a code word for them. Many people still have faith in and revere the supernatural, too. Besides, if this was the same person, it's highly unlikely he'd bother responding to our video in the first place."

Nodding to show his agreement with her, Light added, "And why would he agree to let L live after going through all the trouble to get him to appear on TV? The real Kira wants him dead, so it doesn't make sense."

"Maybe there's some other connection between that Kira and this new guy," Aizawa suggested. "They could've already met and decided to use the word 'Shinigami' as a code to confuse us." 

"Or our Unsub has somehow managed to suddenly develop Dissociative Identity Disorder," (Y/n) muttered under her breath, absentmindedly pushing L's hand away from where he had been vigorously massaging the bridge of his nose. The movement had been distracting since he'd started, and it wasn't likely to help the headache the detective had no doubt become aware of. Choosing to ignore his inquisitive gaze, she instead returned the upturned chair to its correct position.

The gray-eyed man stared at her for a moment longer before turning to respond to Aizawa's theory. "No, I'd say that's unlikely," he addressed, climbing onto the chair before crouching down in his usual stance. "It's as Light says: If the two Kiras were connected, I don't think the impostor would be so willing to give up on her plan to kill me. All of this suggests to me that the copycat has her own agenda and is acting independently of the first. As (Y/n) profiled previously, I believe her actual motivation is to meet the original."

"I think that you two are right," Light chimed in, crossing his arms. "She's acting out of an interest in Kira. The word 'Shinigami' could very well be a reference to their killing power. Saying 'we can confirm our identities by showing our Shinigami to each other' probably means that they confirm their identities by somehow demonstrating their power to kill."

Throwing out a theory so close to the truth was a risky gamble on Light's part, and her lingering stare conveyed as much to her brother who returned her gaze with an unwavering one of his own. 

"Yes," L breathed. "Based on their messages, we can assume that the word 'Shinigami' must hold some other meaning that only the real Kira and the second Kira are aware of. Now, we just need to convince this copycat to tell us what that is."

"You're planning to wait till this copycat runs her mouth and slips up?" (Y/n) confirmed.

L nodded, "It's a pretty good bet."

Her eyes narrowed at the obvious reference to their previous conversation when she had said something almost exactly the same. Was it a reveal of his plans regarding her or was she simply reading too far into this?

"So, will you respond and force her to be more specific?" Light questioned. "We have to be careful with how we handle this. We can't make it too obvious that we're asking, otherwise she'll realize that we're not Kira."

What are you hoping will happen, dear Otouto?

"No," L answered thoughtfully. "I think it's best that from now on we just leave it up to the two Kiras."

His words were met with shock from the Task Force. 

"What do you mean?" Soichiro frowned. 

Tapping his fingers on his knees, L replied, "I imagine that the second Kira is quite satisfied now that she's received a televised response. She sent a message to get Kira's attention, and as far as she knows, she now has it. Also, there's that word she used- one that only the two of them would understand. We'll arrange for this response to be televised on Sakura TV's 6 o' clock news. Naturally, this will be of interest to Kira as he'll be following this exchange between the copycat and the one we've invented. Now, if I were Kira himself, my priority would be preventing this copycat from coming into contact with the police. This will good for us because it means that the real Kira would feel pressure to respond this time."

Leaning forward, Aizawa frowned. "Okay, but let's say that he doesn't respond. Then what are we going to do?"

"Yes, I've been thinking about what the second Kira will do if she receives no response. For one, she may reveal more information that she knows Kira wants to be kept secret to pressure him into a meeting. Of course, that would make Kira nervous." Looking up at them, L smiled slowly. "That could be interesting. What would be even more interesting is if Kira sends out a message of his own to prevent this from happening. Ideally, this could provide us with the physical evidence we need to build a case against him. In the meantime, let's gather all the information we can on this copycat."

The team gave their reluctant agreements, slowly dispersing to their individual workstations and begin on the new task. Since there wasn't all that much to dig up if they weren't targeting with a profile, (Y/n) doubted it would take long. Neverthless, she turned as well to go see to some work when L asked her to wait. 

Curiously, she faced him, waiting for he had to say. 

"I would like for you to work with your profile in mind," he requested.

She tilted her head at his words. "You want a list of possible suspects?" the profiler confirmed, pursing her lips upon receiving a nod. "Would it be alright if I got some...outside assistance? I mean, I could get the information on my own, but it would be faster if I had a little help."

L didn't look particularly convinced. She couldn't really guess from the lack of facial expression. "I'm not inclined to trusting anyone outside the Task Force," he answered at last. 

"You don't trust everyone on the Task Force either," (Y/n) pointed out brazenly, not even batting an eye. 

He didn't deny it, only shrugging minutely. "Occupational hazard."

Nodding slowly with one eyebrow quirked, she pursed her lips. "I'll get to that list then," she sighed, already feeling tired at the prospect of having to go through all the effort of accessing a load of files that she technically wasn't supposed to access.

As soon as the detective was gone, however, (Y/n) whipped out her phone and quickly sent an encrypted message to Penelope Garcia- her team's tech analyst back at the BAU. It wouldn't take Garcia long to decode the message, and soon enough, she had an affirmative reply. 

Not many people knew of Garcia's shady history as an anonymous hacker whose specialty lay in getting her hands on files authorities didn't want her near. As such, the woman didn't need any express permission from the Japanese government to get into their records undetected and covertly send them to (Y/n), all in the span of an hour while the profiler herself listed down what she knew about the second Kira, and then created a program to help her narrow down the list of suspects.

 _Garcia, you are a life saver_ , the (h/c)-haired young woman thought with a rare smile when the files reached her laptop. 

 It took her an hour longer to finish the coding on her program, but after that, it was all a cakewalk. The computer did all the work for her, sorting through the long list of names and significantly shortening it by the given criterion. 

The program searched for well-to-do females from ages 17-25 who had recently lost someone close to them at the hands of a criminal that Kira had done away with. Understandably, the list wasn't exactly short, and would need further narrowing down that she would have to do by herself. 

(Y/n) cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders in physical preparation for the IP address tracing that was to follow, mentally coming to the conclusion that she would most likely develop a whole bunch of nasty spinal problems given how much time she spent on her laptop, just slaving away at hours of footage, endless typing, and a whole load of hacking through secure servers. It was honestly bothersome to break through all the firewalls that a lot of the Kira supporter sites had to make sure they weren't easily shut down by the police. 

It was funny how Light's ultimate aim was to rid the world of criminals and in the process, he had been declared a fugitive of law himself. 

 The skies outside had long since darkened, but nobody made any move to leave or drop what they were doing. (Y/n) didn't know what each of their individual assignments entailed or just how urgent they were. What she did know was that these men were admirable in the sense that they chose to do their duty in the face of sacrificing time from their personal lives and putting their own survival at risk. The only thing really keeping them alive was Light's want to not have his alter ego be connected to the Task Force anymore than L suspected it was. 

Soichiro was already aging, and even had a wife and three children to live for. His heart had briefly given up once already, but he had been incredibly persistent in getting back to work, and even though it was his own son who had been blatantly (and rightfully) accused of being the worst mass murderer in recorded history, he still did his part in the investigation. 

Aizawa had a little girl and a young wife who barely got to see him to begin with, and even less now. Never did the man think of being selfish for their sake, instead willingly risking his life when the situation called for it. (Y/n) had always held a deep sense of respect for him, even though he was usually quite blunt and irritable. She didn't know why exactly, but Aizawa had always been one of her favorites out of her father's colleagues despite the man having made no particular move to attain the hard earned respect from the oldest Yagami child. 

And then, lastly, there was Matsuda. He wasn't far off from her own age, being quite young himself and having graduated from the police academy only a few years ago. The man was usually taken to be a fool always stating the obvious and generally being naive and clumsy, but (Y/n) knew from her father that he was really quite brave in the face of danger and when it called for it, Matsuda could really come through. Besides, if he was there, actively working against Kira when his whole life waited ahead of him, then (Y/n) could acknowledge that he deserved to be there just as much as any of them. 

The three men of the NPA had put everything on hold from their own lives for the sake of bringing Kira to justice, and most of their efforts never got recognized. It must be awfully frustrating, she mentally remarked, her gaze sweeping over them as she briefly looked up from her screen. 

Blinking at the change in brightness, she rubbed at her eyes, trying to ease away the burning with her cold fingers. This movement was stalled by the appearance of the Styrofoam cup of coffee being held out to her, and she gazed up at the owner of the hand to find Light staring down at her. 

"Thanks," (Y/n) muttered, extracting the beverage from his grip and placing it on the coffee table in front of her. 

Light sat down next to her, nodding his head to acknowledge her response of gratitude. "What are you working on?" he questioned, eyes searching the screen of her laptop for the answer to his question. 

"Looking for who could possibly be your new best friend," she replied quietly, loud enough for just the two of them to be able to hear. 

He shot her an unimpressed look before returning his gaze back to the screen as she resumed tracing the IP of one Misa Amane to some Kira support site where she had posted quite the expressive 'thank you'. The model- as (Y/n) had a vague recollection of seeing her on some magazine cover-  had stated how much she wanted to meet Kira in person, and the profiler rolled her eyes. 

"You've even got celebrities pining after you," she commented coolly, taking a sip of her coffee, relief flooding her upon finding that the drink was to her preference. 

"She's not my type," Light said immediately, crossing his arms. "Besides, it hardly matters, don't you think? She isn't worth my time."

Choosing not to say anything in response to that, (Y/n) jotted down the model/actress's name before moving to the next young woman and continuing down the list. "I thought you said you'd head home," she said instead. 

"I went to a cafe on my way there, and thought you could use some sustenance. We can go home together," he explained, leaning back into the sofa and placing his arms behind his head in a leisurely manner. 

"So, I take it you've gotten over being mad at me," she remarked.

Light straightened, frowning evidently. "I wasn't mad at you," he denied. When she didn't respond, he continued, "Of course I hate for you to be involved with L anymore than absolutely necessary, but I wasn't mad about it. I understand that you're just looking out for me."

Momentarily pausing in her typing to give him a side-eyed glance, she smiled slightly. "I'm glad that you're aware of that," she stated, ruffling his hair fondly. "You should go home, though. Don't forget that you're still a student with a proper sleep schedule requirement."

"That's rich coming from the one who's supposed to be recuperating from a traumatic experience," he snorted, but stood up all the same. "Don't stay too late."

"I'll try not to," (Y/n) nodded in goodbye, not looking up to see him go. 

It was another hour and a half before she was finally done eliminating names from the list, and she stretched to relieve her stiff muscles. Toying with the flash-drive in her hand, she crossed the room over to where L was sat in front of his many computers, staring intently at the screens. 

He turned as he heard her approaching, blinking. "I see you're done," he observed, and she nodded, handing the compact storage device over to him. 

"I've included background information, medical history, internet history and current employment of the fourteen suspects. Feel free to cross-check as you please," she informed. "I'll be leaving for now."

"Thank you, (Y/n)," he muttered, almost as an afterthought. 

She paused, glancing at him over her shoulder before nodding. "No problem. Let me know if there's anything else you need me to do."

That said, (Y/n) was done with the Kira investigation for the day, and now, it was her work from the FBI that was calling to her even as she bid goodbye to the rest of the Task Force and exited the hotel to catch a taxi. Once again, (Y/n) was reminded of the fact that she had to see how much she could get out of Ryuk about the Death Note. 

Exhaustion took over the young profiler's body, and she slumped, leaning her head back against the seat as the street lights passed by. 

So much to do. So much to hide. 


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An internal conflict had been faced. A choice had been made. 
> 
> If it came down to it, (Y/n) would make her move as the unannounced third party in the giant game of chess that L and Light seemed to be playing. 
> 
> And, perhaps, she would prove to be the most dangerous player of them all.

_Panic._  

Her entire state of being was trapped in the utter sense of helplessness that threatened to consume her, pulling her into its wretched clutches, squeezing around her lungs until she couldn't breathe and her vision swam, distorting the slate gray walls of the dimly lit room she'd been stuck in for so, so long.

There was pain everywhere, like she'd managed to somehow ingest fire and it was slowly, agonizingly burning her inside out. Her limbs felt like heavy lead, and her mouth tasted like rusted iron, and everything was blood red.

Someone was calling for her, and she looked up to see her team staring back at her in terror, fear and anger twisting their features as the cold barrel of a gun was placed against the burning skin of her temple. 

She couldn't breathe. She wasn't even sure if she was alive at this point. She kind of she hoped she would die soon, just to end the seemingly endless hours of torture. 

(Y/n) frowned as the voices continued calling for her, furrowing her brows in confusion when they began merging into one. 

 _Light?_  

What was he doing here? A new wave of panic swept over her as she began struggling once more. He couldn't be here. He had to be safe. She was supposed to have died before it felt this painful. 

"(Y/n)!" 

With that final call, the young woman's eyes snapped open as she jolted awake, looking around wildly as reality merged with the remnants of a bad memory, feeling thoroughly disoriented and out of place. Finally, it registered that she was in her room. In Japan. On the other side of the planet and far away from the horrors that had plagued her sleep. 

Her wide gaze landed on the familiar face that belonged to her brother, her heart still hammering in her chest, becoming a dull thrum in her eardrums. Swallowing thickly despite her parched throat, she wordlessly sat up and pulled her little brother into a tight hug, feeling like she needed a physical reminder to ground her to reality. 

Light didn't question it, letting his sister fist the material of his nightshirt, rubbing at her back and hoping it was a soothing action since he was more or less at a loss on how to deal with one of the mentally strongest people he knew. He could feel her back shudder as she drew an uneven breath, shaking slightly while she stubbornly blinked away the tears blurring her vision, refusing to cry. 

Inhaling deeply again, she forced her nerves back into a state of calm, repeatedly reminding herself that she was home like a mantra that kept her sane. She released Light from her hold, bringing her ice cold fingers to rub at her forehead, wiping away the beads of cold sweat, avoiding her brother's obviously inquisitive stare. 

"(Y/n)," he said softly, having realized that she wouldn't speak on her own accord, "what was that about?"

The (h/c)-haired female sighed, looking years beyond her actual age as her jaw clenched for a moment. "There was an incident," she revealed at last, her voice a mere whisper, exhaustion causing her shoulders to slump under an unseen weight. "Back at work. It's why I got sent home."

The boy's expression tightened, eyes glinting dangerously in the silvery light from the moon that shone through the glass doors of her room's balcony. "What happened?" Light asked cautiously. He'd guessed that his sister was sent home because of having suffered some sort of trauma, but he'd been waiting for the details rather impatiently. He wanted to know who'd hurt his sister- probably his strongest ally in all walks of his life. 

His malicious demeanor didn't go unnoticed by the older of the two, and (Y/n) watched him calculatingly for a moment, carefully putting together her response. "It was a serial killing case," she began, her voice coming out uneven much to her chagrin. "Only women, and all of them somewhat similar to myself in looks."

"You were bait," Light concluded, making an educated guess, biting the inside of his cheek in irritation when he received a nod. 

"We were getting nowhere, so I offered," here she smiled bitterly. "He fell for it- hook, line and sinker. But he wasn't stupid. Figured out my affiliation with the BAU almost immediately, and then, it became worse. If he killed me, it'd be a pretty great achievement for him, so he made it a sick game and kept me locked up for the worst two days of my life before my team finally got to him."

Light's shoulders stiffened, looking at his sister with wide eyes as she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists, fighting back the visions. She would not lapse back into how she was a few months ago, when every shadow had her terrified and every sound sent her screaming. 

"What's his name?" Light's voice was dangerously low when he asked this, and (Y/n) had a good idea of what he wanted to do right then, his fingers twitching- probably for a pen and a certain notebook despite not knowing what the culprit in question even looked like.

In response, the woman shook her head. "He's already dead, Light," she informed softly, the man's face flashing across the canvas of her mind momentarily before she quickly blinked it away. 

Her brother exhaled unevenly, running a hand through his chocolate colored hair. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he demanded. 

"It's not really my favorite thing to talk about. There's nothing you could do, and I'd rather not have you know the disturbing bits of my life," (Y/n) answered, maintaining her composure intently after having it ripped away so violently from her. 

Obviously frustrated with her answer, Light punched the mattress of her bed, jaw clenched. "That's not how it's supposed to work, dammit," he ground out through gritted teeth. "We're supposed to be there for each other. Not just you always coming through for me. How could you not tell me this?"

Keeping her silence, she let him fume until he turned his russet orbs to her, searching for an answer in the impassive look on her face. "I won't say you're too young for me to tell you this, because that would be insulting your intelligence," she sighed at last, resting her head against the cool wood of the headboard. "Perhaps, I wanted to feel like I was protecting you. Maybe I was protecting myself- to feel like I still had some control over my life by pretending it didn't happen."

(Y/n) wasn't stupid- far from it, as a matter of fact. She knew what to say to evade certain situations, and she shamelessly used manipulation to get her way. It was simply that her poker face usually kept people from picking up on that. All too convenient really. 

She knew that her reply would be enough to placate Light- momentarily at least- and she was proved right when he let out a breath in defeat. Her eyes landed on the glaring red numbers displayed across the face of her alarm clock, and she frowned at them, turning to her brother. 

"You should go to bed," she reminded. "It's really late."

Evidently conflicted, Light opened his mouth to argue, but she shook her head to cut him off. "You have classes tomorrow, and you still have to go if you want to secure those credentials, you know. I'll be fine, dear Otouto." 

Scowling at her use of the proper way to address him, Light stood up slowly, reluctantly making his way to the door. Pausing in the doorway, he turned to look back at her, lips pursed. "I'll be there for whenever you need me," he began, a little uncharacteristically awkward. Then again, these formalities never existed between the two when (Y/n) seemed to be emotionally invincible to Light, and always understood when he needed her without any words having to be said between the two of them. "I hope you'll let me help you, too, Nee-chan."

The honorific had her stiffening for a moment before she nodded, and then, Light was gone, slipping back into his room which happened to be adjacent to hers. Falling back against her pillows, she let out a long breath, feeling oddly thankful that it was Light who resided beside her bedroom, and not her parents. 

Feeling wide awake, she glanced at the clock once more before lifting herself off the bed, grabbing her laptop from her old study table and returning to the pile of blankets and sheets. She powered it up, plugging in her earphones before logging into Skype, calling before she could change her mind. 

"Hey, Spence," she greeted when the male's face showed up on the screen. 

Spencer Reid looked back at her with a look of curiosity. "(Y/n)," he returned, nodding. "It's supposed to be 2:30 in the morning in Japan right now. Did you have another nightmare?" 

The question was rhetoric- they both knew that. Her appearance was more than enough of an answer after all. 

Still, she offered a close-lipped smile. "Not one of my best moments." She shrugged. "My brother wasn't all that impressed either. How are things on your end?"

Thankfully, Spencer let her change the subject, lifting a bunch of file and smiling slightly, evidently not amused. "We just got back from a case, actually. A twelve-year-old girl kidnapped in the suburbs of Philadelphia."

As he went on to explain the details of the case in the same detailed manner that she expected of the certified genius, (Y/n) let herself shove the nightmare to the back of her mind, choosing to focus on the narration of the case instead. 

When she'd first met Spencer a year ago, she hadn't really thought that they'd have any relationship beyond teammates and colleagues. However, since they were both of the same age, and both smarter than their age group, the two had ended up as unexpected friends. Sure, he was technically of an intellect superior to hers, but she never once teased Spencer over it like the rest of their colleagues often did in a joking manner, so more often than not, Spencer had gravitated towards her company when he wasn't with Gideon (his own mentor). 

Derek Morgan (another agent on their team) had tried to imply towards the beginning of a romantic relationship between the two, arguing that since they were both young geniuses, they'd be perfect together. There was an unspoken understanding between her and Spencer, however, that they were better off as friends. 

There had been only one lapse in that understanding, sometime in the previous year. The two had met up on their day off, and at some point, Spencer had asked if she had kissed anyone yet. (Y/n) had shrugged and nodded, commenting that it really wasn't that big of a deal when he revealed that he had yet to have his first kiss. Nevertheless, he had reluctantly managed to ask if she would mind kissing him, and (Y/n) had complied easily. They never brought it up after that, and it hadn't affected their dynamics at all. Neither overthought it, knowing that no romantic feelings had been involved. Of course, Spencer had stuttered and been awkward at first, but she hadn't really reacted to the kiss and soon, he let it go as well.

She didn't think anyone even knew about it having happened.

"What about you? What have you been up to?" Spencer asked presently, and she wrinkled her nose for a moment. 

"I managed to get involved with the Kira investigation," she admitted, watching her friend's eyebrows rise slightly. 

Spencer shot her a pointed look. "You're supposed to be resting, you know. Not getting involved with a high profile case."

Unashamed, she shrugged. "My mind rebels at stagnation," she sighed. "I need a distraction."

"And a serial killer gives you that?" he retorted incredulously. 

"There really isn't much for me to do," she scratched at her cheek. "They know about my...present health issues as well. It's essentially just research."

Not looking particularly convinced, but not wanting to push it either, Spencer nodded slowly. "Just don't do anything that will put you in danger," he requested softly. 'Don't end up like Greene,' went without saying. Ever since their former teammate's resignation following her own PTSD and subsequent downward spiraling mental health, Spencer had been a lot more on edge regarding (Y/n)'s diagnosis. 

"I won't," she promised. 

They hung up soon after, and (Y/n) sighed, leaning against the headboard of her bed. From previous experiences, she knew that she would get no more sleep, and in all honesty, she didn't particularly feel like risking another nightmare. One episode was enough; especially in front of Light. 

She wondered how loud she must have been to have woken him up. Usually, she was left alone to claw her way out of the nightmare abyss, so she really had now idea whether she was a distressed sleeper or not. 

Her eyes wandered back to her laptop, her reflection in the screen staring back at her despite the screensaver flashing across it. _Well, I may as well get some work done,_  she thought, rolling her shoulders and blinking away the burn that had already begun irritating her eyes. 

And so followed another sleepless night.

The following daybreak found (Y/n) heading to Task Force headquarters along with her father while Light headed off to college. Sachiko had frowned in heavy disapproval at her, and the (h/c)-haired woman didn't even want to consider what her mother would have to say about the bags under her eyes that she had effectively covered up with a good amount of concealer.

Although she had been present for the entirety of an uneventful morning (she'd covertly been getting some FBI work done instead), things finally seemed to pick up around the afternoon. 

She looked up from her laptop as Watari entered the room, dropping a box containing another video tape and a journal. Her eyebrow raised at the latter, and interest peaked, she placed the laptop on the table in front of her and leaned forward as L extracted the items from the box. 

"The impostor wishes for the journal entries to be aired on the news," Watari informed L briefly, receiving an almost dismissive hum in reply. Unfazed, the elderly man nodded once, shooting (Y/n) a small smile before leaving the main room of their current headquarters in a different hotel from the first. 

L examined the journal's contents thoughtfully, pulling out the accompanying printed list of the entries from the box (courtesy of Watari). "So, the second Kira is trying to arrange a meeting with the first," the detective remarked.

"There's that word again," Aizawa pointed out, indicating an entry towards the bottom that mentioned Shinigami. "And there's a baseball game there on May 30th, too."

What caught (Y/n)'s attention, however, was the entry for May 22nd that mentioned showing notebooks in Aoyama. 

Then the May 30th entry was clearly a decoy for the police. At least this impostor isn't a total moron, (Y/n) thought absently. 

"What do you think, (Y/n)?" L asked, bringing her attention to him. The young woman found the intensity of his stare almost unnerving, but it wasn't distracting enough to keep away the thought of this most likely being a test of some sort. Perhaps L was hoping that her response might give him some insight into how much she knew about Light's murderous tendencies, the detective most likely having disregarded that he had no solid proof against the younger brunet aside from circumstantial evidence. 

"I find it a little unbelievable that our Unsub is stupid enough to give such an obvious location," she commented, her tone carefully void of any particular emotion. "Maybe I'm giving the impostor too much credit, but I think that checking out all three mentioned locations is a safer idea than focusing our efforts entirely on the game at Tokyo Dome."

Nodding in consideration of her words, L hummed. "I"d have to agree with (Y/n)," he remarked. "We have to assume that all of our efforts are most likely to go fruitless. As such, securing all three locations on the mentioned dates seems to be the best option. I'd like Light's opinion as well though, if you don't mind."

Matsuda and Aizawa exchanged glances at this while Soichiro frowned, clearly displeased. (Y/n) only shrugged, unbothered by the obvious lack of trust. She expected nothing less from the raven haired man after all. 

And when Light repeated the same conclusion later in the evening when he arrived, it was settled that he, Matsuda and (Y/n) would go to Aoyama and Shibuya on the given dates since they would be able to blend in with the crowd of youngsters more easily than the rest. Furthermore, L had decided that the entries be aired on the news, the baseball match on May 30th be cancelled and checkpoints leading to Tokyo Dome be set up. 

"Alright, we'll discuss the rest of the plan tomorrow then," Light said with a tone of finality, ducking into the taxi as the both of them prepared to leave for home later that evening.

(Y/n) turned to shoot Matsuda a friendly smile, bidding him a goodnight (and successfully managing to fluster the said male with only two words) before getting into the vehicle as well. 

They'd barely driven out of the hotel's driveway when Light spoke up. "I swear, it's like Matsuda has a crush on you," he grumbled quietly. 

In reply, she snorted. "What is this- high school? Matsuda's just one of those simpleminded guys who are gifted with the wonderful inability to converse with anyone of the opposite sex that is remotely attractive," she shot down quickly. 

Light shrugged. "You've been single for quite a while now, right?" he brought up. 

"What if I told you that I've secretly been married for the past three years?" she responded sarcastically, eliciting an eye roll from her younger brother. 

"Mom would be livid," he commented, and she nodded in agreement. 

(Y/n) sighed softly. "I haven't really been looking to get involved with someone in that sense. I'd need a person who could keep up with me and my job, and that rules out a fairly large number of potential candidates, so I've just resolved to being single for a while. It isn't really a priority right now anyways."

He hummed in acknowledgement, the rest of the fairly short car ride passing in silence until they pulled up in front if their home.

"You both are home quite late today," Sachiko observed, emerging from the kitchen as she wiped her hands on the apron she wore. 

"Uh, yeah. I had a date," Light answered, being met with raised eyebrows from both women. 

As though she were summoned by the mention of 'date', Sayu slid into the entryway with a wide grin on her face. "You have a girlfriend?" she asked excitedly. "What's her name?"

"Well, I'm 18 and in college now. It really isn't that surprising. Maybe you should get a boyfriend, Sayu," he evaded the questions, jogging up the stairs and calling out in rejection of their mother's offer for dinner, ignoring their little sister's flustered cries of outrage.

Pouting at the lack of detail from Light, Sayu turned to (Y/n) with hopeful eyes. "Did you meet her?" she asked impatiently. 

"Nah, I just picked him up from outside the hotel," she waved away, climbing up the stairs as well, a devious grin on her face following Sayu's scandalized gasp. 

The youngest Yagami almost shrieked. "I can't believe you just said that in front of Mom. What's this about a hotel, hmm? Sounds suspicious."

It was honestly quite relieving to see that despite the chaos she was growing up in, Sayu still retained her innocent charisma and upbeat nature. Quite easily, the youngest Yagami was the source of optimism in their household of the overworked father, constantly anxious mother, apathetic oldest child, and the Golden Boy middle child with a god-complex. Sure, Sayu wasn't the smartest cookie in the jar, but she was genuine and true to herself, and (Y/n) could admire that.

"What are you doing in here?" the woman questioned, completely unfazed by the now familiar Shinigami floating around her room as she shrugged off her black coat and hung it up, having closed her bedroom door. "Shouldn't you be spending more time with Light than you do with me?"

Ryuk merely chuckled. "I find it interesting."

Seeing as she wasn't an 'it', her eyebrows rose up, and she spared the god of death a glance over her shoulder before returning to hanging up her blazer as well, shutting the door to her haphazardly arranged closet. "What exactly do you find interesting?" 

Before replying, his eyes lifted up to the scarlet letters hovering above her head, and his grin widened. "Does Light know of your real name?" he questioned.

Eyebrows furrowing, the (h/c)-haired female looked at him strangely. "(Y/n) Yagami is my real name," she asserted, wondering if the creature before her had managed to lose his sanity. Could Shinigami even do that?

However, she was only met with a shake of the head, a clear indication of Ryuk's disagreement. "It isn't the one you seem to really associate yourself with," he observed, eyes still locked onto the letters- particularly her last name. 

"I beg your pardon," (Y/n) blinked, mind coming up blank for a change (an unwelcome change at that). 

Finally the Shinigami's eyes seemed to lower to look at her. "You're adopted, right?"

Realization lit up the usually dull (e/c) irises as it finally clicked in her mind. "(Y/n) (L/n)," she whispered as if the name was the fading shred of a dream she was trying to let go of but only ended up holding tighter to her chest. "My birth name."

"And apparently the one you consider your only name," Ryuk commented, sounding disturbingly delighted for whatever reason. 

To her credit, (Y/n) took it in her stride, only nodding. "I didn't realize it," she shrugged, secretly feeling guilty because it almost felt like she had betrayed her adoptive family for still holding onto the name, but also recognizing that it was her first identity and nothing really could change that. 

Examining her neutral expression, Ryuk tilted his head. "You don't look that surprised."

"I'm not," she confirmed. "It's understandable now that I think about it. My birth mother and I were incredibly close, up until the time she had to give me up. Seeing as I was five at the time of my adoption and old enough for conscious emotional attachment, it isn't particularly shocking that I've held onto my first identity in my conscience. It is, after all, my remaining link to my birth mother."

"Light doesn't know this last name, does he?" Ryuk asked rhetorically. 

Still, she shook her head. "No," (Y/n) mused, "I don't think he does. He probably thinks I was picked up from an orphanage or something, so he never asked and none of us ever brought it up."

"So, if he does try to kill you, he wouldn't be able to since he'd assume (Y/n) Yagami would work," Ryuk cackled, and in all honesty, (Y/n) felt a strange sort of relief. 

She knew that given her position and significance in his life, Light wasn't likely to kill her, but there was always the off chance he might do it to further his cause. Of course, if he managed to meet up with the second Kira and they were to join forces, then her secret would be outed thanks to the Shinigami eyes, but she wondered if it would ever come down to that. 

 _No_ , she thought resolutely. _I won't let it get that far._  

After all, she knew that as a more or less neutral party with the knowledge of the world's most undesirable, she held a considerable amount of power over Light and the case in general. If she wished, she could very well manipulate the case to proceed exactly as she wanted, and if she saw the need, she would do it. For now, however, she wasn't too bothered with just sitting back and watching Light pull the strings. 

He may think he could pull hers as well, but (Y/n) knew herself well enough to recognize that she was well beyond Light's controlling tendencies. She stood beside him out of loyalty as a sibling, and not because he had convinced her to. If she didn't care so much about holding her family together against all odds, she wouldn't be above siding against Light, seeing as in the long run, it was far more of personal benefit to her. 

"Hey, Ryuk?" she began thoughtfully. "What if someone wishes to give up their Note?"

The Shinigami grinned, already having anticipated having this conversation with the oldest Yagami child at some point or the other. "It's possible," he answered in a rare moment of compliance. "You lose all memories of having ever owned the notebook, and they only return if you touch it again."

This was certainly an interesting revelation. Getting Light to relinquish ownership was next to impossible, however. Nevertheless, it sent the gears of her mind turning. 

Deciding that he was done with the young woman's company for the moment, Ryuk drifted out of the room, through the wall while (Y/n) slumped onto her bed, falling onto her back and staring blankly at the ceiling. 

When was the last time she had thought this hard? She couldn't remember. On a case, perhaps. 

A lingering question from the recesses of her mind made its way to the forefront in her moment of allowance, and now, with what could only be described as a sense of dread, (Y/n) considered it. 

She had already known that Light wasn't above the possibility of killing their family if it came down to it in order to realize his goals, but now she was forced to really recognize the probability of it happening. While her primary goal was still to ensure that Light got away from punishment for his crimes, and ideally this could be done by the memory loss that accompanied relinquishing ownership of the Death Note, she had to face what she would do if he genuinely planned on tearing apart their family in such a brutal fashion. 

Unfortunately, the answer was clear. 

(Y/n) grimaced slightly, pursing her lips as she did so. 

If it ever came to their survival being threatened at the hands of Light, she would no longer stand by her little brother. Light may think it was them against the world- she didn't know what he thought of their relationship- but as far as (Y/n) was concerned, she would protect the rest of her family even if it meant turning on him. 

An internal conflict had been faced. A choice had been made. 

If it came down to it, (Y/n) would make her move as the unannounced third party in the giant game of chess that L and Light seemed to be playing. 

And, perhaps, she would prove to be the most dangerous player of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, look: my first story on ao3. There's no proper update schedule, so bear with me. 
> 
> You can find A Detached Resistance on Quotev and Wattpad, as well, if you'd like.


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